stocktaking research on policies for education for...

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EDUCATION Task Force COUNCIL OF EUROPEFOR DEMOCRATIC Education and Youth CONSEIL DEL'EUROPECITIZENSHIP Enhanced Graz Process

Working Table 1Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe

Strasbourg, 3 December 2001 GIV/EDU/CIT (2001) 45Croatia

STOCKTAKING RESEARCH ON POLICIES FOREDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP IN

SOUTHEAST EUROPE

Country report:CROATIA

by Vedrana Spajić-Vrkaš

Final DraftProvisional Format

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CONTENT

1. National context 31.1. Social context 51.2. Political context 71.3. Cultural context 81.4. Economic context 10

2. Policies and legislative base 112.1. General considerations 11

2.1.1. The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia 112.1.2. The laws on education 122.1.3. The laws on the protection of human rights and freedoms and the rights of national and ethnic minorities or communities 14

2.2. Education for democratic citizenship 162.2.1. Curriculum 162.2.2. Structural/organisational 182.2.3. Teacher training 20

2.3. Valuing cultural diversity and social cohesion 212.3.1 Curriculum 212.3.2. Structural/organisational 222.3.3. Teacher training 23

2.4. Cross-cutting issues 232.4.1. Life-long learning 232.4.2. Research and policy development 242.4.3. International co-operation 252.4.4. Quality assurance 252.4.5. Information and communication technologies 25

3. Policy implementation measures 263.1. General considerations 263.2. Education for democratic citizenship 26

3.2.1 Curriculum 263.2.2. Structural/organisational 273.2.3. Teacher training 28

3.3. Valuing cultural diversity and social cohesion 293.3.1 Curriculum 293.3.2. Structural/organisational 303.3.3. Teacher training 31

3.4. Cross-cutting issues 313.4.1. Life-long learning 313.4.2. Research and policy development 313.4.3. International co-operation 323.4.4. Quality assurance 333.4.5. Information and communication technologies 333.4.6. Finance 33

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4. Views from the grass roots 344.1. General considerations 344.2. Chosen approach to data gathering 384.3. Findings 40

5. Conclusions 50References 53

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1. National context

The Republic of Croatia is, according to its 1990 Constitution, a "unitary and indivisibledemocratic and social state" in which "the power derives from, and belongs to the people"seen as "a community of free and equal citizens that exercise their power either through freeelection of their representatives or by direct decision-making”. It stretches over 56.538 sq. kmof land and sea with population of 4,784.265 (1991 Census; the 2001 Census estimates are4,554.000).

The Croatian people have experienced turbulent and discontinuous social, political andcultural changes throughout their history. Documents testify that Croats inhabited theirhomeland in the 7th century. In the beginning of the 10th century Croatia became thekingdom recognised by the pope that also encompassed the territories of Bosnia andHerzegovina. After the extinction of the Croat dynasty in the 11th century, the CroatianParliament (Sabor) came to the decision to preserve the state by establishing personal unionwith the Hungarian kings. The decision had many detrimental effects on the development ofCroatia in the centuries to come. The territory in which Croats lived was disintegrated andruled by different rulers (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Venice and the Ottoman Empire) thatfrequently traded and exchanged Croatian territory. Nevertheless, the Croatian Parliamentlocated in Zagreb resumed considerable sovereignty over the territories that were includedinto the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It was responsible for the nomination of the Croatianviceroy (ban) as well as for the organisation and staffing of domestic administration.Although the official language of the Parliament was Latin until 1848 and despite permanentclashes of interests among Croatian parties represented, as well as between Zagreb andVienna/Budapest, the Parliament managed to preserve a considerable level of autonomyinside the Monarchy and thus to act as an integral political factor, particularly from the middleof the 19th century when the issue of nation building became the key driving force in Europe.Additionally, Croats preserved the sense of "people-hood" in this period through sharedlanguage, customs and religion. The majority was socialised into a peasant society havinglittle contact with foreign administration and formal schooling. A strong integrating force wasthe Roman Catholic church which, from the Middle Ages onward, used the Croatian languagein its liturgy. The preservation of the state institutions and national symbols as well as thesense of "people-hood" shared by the population were crucial points for the 19th centurynational awareness building. The idea was spread over the "all Croatian lands" by number ofCroatian intellectuals, artists and politicians (Illirian Movement), especially after an attempt tointroduce Hungarian as a compulsory language into Croatian schools. The national movementwas organised around the idea that Balkans Slavs (Bulgarians, Croats, Serbs, Slovenes) weredescendants of a single illustrious race, the Illyrians and, since at that time language andlinguistic uniformity were seen as an essential prerequisite for political independence and/orunity, that they should have its own independent state.

When after WW 1 in 1918 the Croatian Parliament broke off the ties with the HabsburgMonarchy, Croatia joined the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. With no consent from theCroatian side, the State was in a matter of months renamed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatsand Slovenes headed by the Serbian king. As a consequence, Croatian Parliament wasdissolved from 1920 until 1939 for the first time in its history. The Serbian king proclaimeddictatorship and once more renamed the state into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. With thebeginning of the WW2, Croatia emerged as a sharply divided society. On the one side were

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those that were loyal to the Independent State of Croatia ruled by the Ustasha Movement thatcame into power through its collaboration with German and Italian nazi/fascist regimes., Onthe other, were the followers of the Antifascist Movement which from 1943 was headed bythe State Antifascist Council of the National Liberation of Croatia. The former managed tobring independence from the Serbian regime at the expense of human rights and freedoms,pluralism and social integrity, while the latter offered a new version of South Slavsintegration at the expense of Croatian national interests. By the end of the WW2, communistsmanaged to fully marginalise the role of other political parties in the antifascist movement,particularly liberal and traditionally oriented peasants' leaders. They turned the end of the warand the dissolving of the Ustasha regime into a one-party victory and laid down thefoundations of the post-war communist Yugoslavia.

The new state evolved as a socialist federation of six republics, five of which were, in theterms of Anthony D. Smith, ethnic nations and the sixth (Bosnia and Herzegovina) wasrecognised as such in the 60s through the hybridisation of religion and ethnicity (Muslims).The integration of the state was assured through a repressive communist party apparatus thatcontrolled all spheres of life by fictitiously acting "from the ground". Civil liberties weresuppressed, liberal ideas condemned and national strivings punished. Croats experienced twowaves of mass political exodus following the end of WW2 and after 1971 with a great numberof emigrants between these periods. The number of Croats living in Diaspora was thusenlarged to over 2 million. The need to stabilise and politically modernise the country led thecommunists to adopt a new Constitution in 1974 that introduced elements of a confederatesystem by giving more autonomy to the republics.

The Constitution not only failed to stabilise the country but also caused new tensions onnational and political grounds. With the collapse of communism in Europe, Croatia andSlovenia opted for more dynamic democratic changes. In spring 1990 both countries decidedto independently organise multi-party elections. In May 1990, the Croatian DemocraticUnion (HDZ) led by Dr Franjo Tuđman won a majority of seats in the Croatian Parliament.The new Croatian Constitution was proclaimed in December 1990 and in May 1991 thereferendum showed that 94 percent of Croatian citizens supported the idea of Croatiansovereignty, independence and autonomy. Relying on the results of referendum, the CroatianParliament adopted the Proclamation of Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic ofCroatia on June 25, 1991.

The militant Serbian nationalists living in Croatia received the Proclamation as a threat.Manipulated and assisted in arms by the Serbian Government led by President Milošević, whofrom a hard-line communist suddenly became a militant nationalist, and the Yugoslav Armythat remained "the last fortress of communism", Croatian Serbs engaged in an aggressive waragainst Croatia. In few months, one third of Croatian territory was already occupied andnearly half a million of its citizens displaced from their homes. Following the attack onBosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 Croatia additionally cared for 300.000 refugees. In thesummer of 1995, part of the occupied territories was regained through military and policeoperations while the remaining part (Eastern Slavonia) was peacefully reintegrated in January1998. The reintegration led to a huge migration of Croatian Serbs from the formerly occupiedterritories to Serbia.

In less than a decade Croatian citizens have been faced with number of deep crises andchallenges: from post-communist enthusiasm, awareness-rising and nation-building, throughthe loss of national territory, the experience of insecurity, aggression and displacement, to the

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renewal of social fabric and the re-balancing of pluralism, the reconstruction of nationaleconomy and the restoration of human potentials, as well as the renovation of naturalresources for the country's further development and growth.

Unfortunately, independence and war victory did not automatically bring long-expectedbenefits to Croatian citizens. Partly due to the war and partly to an autocratic politicalleadership, the democratic changes that most of the post-communist countries were passingthrough rather continuously in that period, were halted in Croatia. The parliamentarydemocracy remained at an immature stage as well as civil society. Political rhetoricdominated over the need for political correctness and responsibility and nationalisticdiscourses were frequently used by political elite as instruments of public manipulation. Thelegal system was adopted to provide for nepotism, corruption and arbitrariness, leaving anaverage citizen unprotected from the power structures. The national enthusiasm that markedthe beginning of 90’s turned to social apathy by the end of 90s with the lack of vision, lowlevel of citizens' empowerment and their almost non-existent participation in decision-makingprocesses, especially among the young. The implementation of privatisation policy deprivedmany Croatian citizens of their rights to have a share in the distribution of the society's wealthwhich they themselves had accumulated during socialism. Modernisation and socialdevelopment was equated with populism and false traditionalism; the society was once moredivided on ideological, ethnic and religious grounds.

The general election held on 3 January 2000 brought victory to two opposition politicalblocks, one formed by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and the Croatian SocialLiberal Party which secured 40 percent of the popular vote and another formed by CroatianPeasant Party, Croatian People's Party, Istrian Democratic Parliament and Liberal Partywith 16 percent of the votes. The two blocs formed a six-party coalition that announced, in its2000-2004 Action Programme, comprehensive changes with a view to pull the country out ofthe economic and social crisis and, moreover, to create a solid foundation for economic andsocial development in the years to come. The principles, to which the Government hascommitted itself, are:

• development of democracy and civil society• strengthening of market-economy, and the • preparation of Croatia for integration into the European Union

Some of the areas to be primarily targeted are: the change of legislation in line with the EUstandards; the stabilisation of public finance and the introduction of an efficient budgetmanagement; the reduction of the state power and of public spending, as well as therationalisation of the use of public resources; strengthening of the rule of law; making thestate and local government more efficient, accountable and responsive to the citizens' needsand demands; the promotion of the entrepreneurship as well as the quality education, scienceand technology.

1.1. Social context

Although there has been no systemic research on the changes in Croatian society during thelast decade, the results of several small-scale studies indicate that it has assumed a bipolarstructure. The middle class has almost disappeared and the society is being divided into thetwo opposing groups, in terms of income, wealth, power and dominance. On the one side is agroup, small in number, of "nouveau riches" for which the term "mafiocracy" has been

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coined. This group is, in the perception of many, the only beneficiaries of the introduction ofmarket economy and privatisation, except possibly for those involved in new communicationtechnologies, The dominance of the so called mafiocracy was reputedly ensured mainlythrough links to the former government structures and, especially, to a small number offormer political leaders. The year 2000 parliamentary changes challenged their social positionbut did not alter their economic privileges, as the process of privatisation and its misconducthave not yet been thoroughly reviewed. On the other side, there is a majority of impoverishedcitizens that live little above existence minimum. Those who work regularly without pay formonths and those who are unemployed occupy the lowest niches of this group.

Due to the lack of data, the recent shift in political power that brought disconnection in theformer wealth-power-dominance structure does not allow us to define a social mobilitysystem nor to determine the mechanisms of social restructuring in Croatia nowadays. Itremains unclear whether social positions are still reproduced through family background,ethnicity/nationality and/or political "correctness", or are more dependent on the level ofeducation and/or market opportunities. Everyday experience would seem to show that the roleof education in upward mobility is still limited to a small number of cases, thatethnicity/national background has less and less importance and that party and nepotisticmechanisms still prevail - although market forces may soon alter such relations.

Another two important features of Croatian social structure are demographic loss and thedepopulation of island areas. Indirect and direct losses in population are the consequence ofwars and of a negative migration balance in the 20th century. As indicated above, more than2,000.000 of the first, second and third generation Croats live in Diaspora. As a direct andindirect outcome of the last war, it is estimated that 250-350,000 Croatian citizens have leftthe country. Up to 20,000 persons has been declared killed or missing, and over 30,000 areremained disabled. It is estimated that over 120,000 young men and women have migrated tothe developed countries all over the world and that an almost equal number of Croatian Serbswho were living on the occupied territories left the country after the reintegration.

As the figures below show, the average age of Croatian population is high and thereproduction rate is unfavourable. The death rate is slightly higher than the birth rate (11.3 ascompared to 11.2) producing a negative natural increase of - 0,1. Demographic trends are positivein urban centres and negative in almost all rural areas, especially on small islands where theproblem of continuous depopulation has been faced throughout the century. Despite the factthat the parent-child bonds remain strong throughout one's life, most Croatian families live astwo-generation social units and the average number of persons per household is 3.1. By 1991,more than half of the population (54.29) lived in 14 municipalities, towns and cities, includingZagreb, the capital, which has a population of 1 million.

The structure of population by sex and age as well as the life expectancy at birth by sex, arethe following:

Population by sex (1991 Census) Total 4,784.265 % Men 2,318.623 48.5Women 2,465.642 51.5

Population by age (1991 Census)0-14 19.8

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15-24 13.6 25-64 55.0 65 and over 11,6

Life expectancy at birth by sex (1988-1990):Total 72.27 Men 68.59Women 75.95

Population aged 15 and over by educational attainment (1991 Census, in percentage) Total men women

No schooling or unknown 10.1 6.3 13.54-7 of basic schooling 21.2 17.6 24.6basic school 23.4 22.4 24.2vocational school 12.7 17.8 8.0technical school 11.5 12.3 10.9grammar school 2.3 1.8 2.8non-grammar secondary school 9.5 10.9 8.1non-university college 4.0 4.5 3.7university (faculty and art academy) 5.3 6.4 4.2

Population aged 10 and over by illiteracy (1991 Census, in percentage)Total 2,97Men 1,16Women 4,78

1.2. Political context

Croatia has been established as a parliamentary multiparty republic. The work of the centralgovernment is based on the principle of the sharing of power as well as of co-operation andcontrol among its legislative (Parliament), executive (President and Government) and judicialbranches. The exercise of central power is further limited by the Constitutional right to localand regional self-government. The supreme head of the executive power in Croatia is thePresident.

The political scene includes several major and middle-size parties and a great number of smallparties with specific political interests and programmes. Although many still lack clearpolitical priorities, the major ones are, with some exceptions, now becoming more stabilisedand balanced on the left-right continuum. Contemporary political pluralism consists of 74parties as registered by the Ministry of Administration and Judiciary by June 2001. A total of7 parties represent the political interests of national and ethnic minorities or communities:

• 4 Serbian (Independent Democratic Serbian Party, Party of Danubian's Serbs, SerbPeople's Party, Serbian Democratic Party of Baranja)

• 1 Italian (Italian Democratic Union)• 1 Roma/Gypsy (Romany Party of Croatia).Serb People's Party holds one seat in the Parliament.

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From 1990 to 2000, the Croatian Democratic Union held a majority of seats in theParliament. At the 3 January 2000 parliamentary elections, the two opposition blocks secured56 percent of the votes and later formed a six-party-coalition government headed by theSocial Democratic Party of Croatia's leader Ivica Račan (Croatian Social Liberal Party,Croatian Peasant Party, Croatian People's Party, Liberal Party, Istrian DemocraticParliament). The candidate of the Croatian People's Party, Stjepan Mesić, won thepresidential elections. The parties represented in the Parliament and the number of seats theycurrently hold (in percentage), is as follows:

• Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) 30.46 %• Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) 27.15 %• Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) 14.60 %• Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) 10.60 %• Istrian Democratic Parliament (IDS) 2.65 %• Democratic Centre (DC) 2.65 %• Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) 2.65 %• Croatian People's Party (HNS) 1.32 %• Liberal Party (LS) 1.32 %• Alliance of the Croatian Littoral and Highland (PGS) 1.32 %• Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) 0.66 %• Croatian Independent Democrats (HND) 0.66 %• Slavonia and Baranja Croatian Party 0.66 %• Serb People's Party 0.66 %

Although the-six-party coalition is passing through a number of crises and has recently beenreduced to the "group of five" and although the government and administration structure isstill burdened by political divisions, the coalition has shown that political dialogue is possibleat all levels. The government has, in some sectors more than in others, initiated discussionwith local leaders, non-governmental and professional organisations in drafting, financing andthe implementation of policy programmes, legislative and the plans of actions. However, thechanges are still slow and often handicapped by a narrow politicisation of public andprofessional life.

1.3. Cultural Context

Croatia is a multicultural, multilingual, multi-religious and multi-ethnic country.Multiculturality in the narrow sense of the term refers to differences in the style of living. ForCroatia, this distinction is applicable to regional, rural-urban and sex/gender differences aswell as to the age variations. Multilingualism refers to the existence of different languagesrecognised officially (usually as bilingualism in the territories where non-Croats make themajority of the population) or practised in everyday encounters of citizens of differentlinguistic background. The category can as well be extended to include dialect and regionalvariations of both majority and some minority languages. Multi-religiosity refers to differentreligious practices in Croatia, including atheism. Multi-ethnicity covers the differences inethnic (self)identification of Croatian citizens. The Croatian legal system differentiatesbetween national minority and ethnic community, reflecting the dualism inherited from thecommunist past. The status of national minority has a group that by origin belongs to a nationwith its majority living within its own state (e.g. Albanians, Hungarians). Ethnic minority is a

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group that by its origin differs from the majority of the population but has no majority of thesame origin that lives in its own state (e.g. Roma/Gypsies). These groups de jure enjoy equalrights and are guaranteed equal protection by law. This is probably the reason why in theamended Article 3 of the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and Rights ofEthnic and National Communities and Minorities in the Republic of Croatia, whichestablishes the principle of equal protection of all persons belonging to minorities, all groupsare listed by name and recognised as "national minorities", including Roma/Gypsypopulation.

According to the 1991 Census, Croats make 78.1 percent of the total population while 21.9percent goes, according to the Preamble of the Constitutional Law, to 22 minority groups:Albanians, Austrians, Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Czechs, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians,Jews, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Poles, Roma/Gypsies, Romanians, Russians, Russinians,Serbs, Slovenes, Turks, Ukrainians and Vlachs. Five out of 22 are the "new minority groups"i.e. those groups that were recognised as constitutive peoples/nations in former Yugoslavia(Bosniaks formerly referred to as Muslims, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes).

Contemporary ethnic composition of the country is as follows (1991 Census, in percentage):

Croats 78.1Serbs 12.2 Muslims 0.9 Slovenians 0.5Hungarians 0.5Italians 0.4Czechs 0.3Albanians 0.2Montenegrins 0.2Others 6.7

The Roma/Gypsy population makes 0.14 of the total. The group is historically small innumber although recent estimates done by some ethnic associations put the population ataround 40,000 which is over six times more than the official data from the 1991 Census. Thediscrepancy in statistics may be the consequence of the waves of (re)migration of thepopulation in the last decade as well as an outcome of a long history of stigmatisation andsegregation of Roma/Gypsy population in former Yugoslavia. Over two-thirds ofRoma/Gypsies living in Croatia are long-term settlers and over 70 percent of them live in 7municipalities, a second largest group settled on the outskirts of the Croatian capital. Most ofthem still live in disadvantaged conditions: poor housing, lack of water supplies andelectricity, illiteracy, high rate of unemployment, etc. An average Roma/Gypsy family hasthree times more children than an average Croatian family and, in the same time, far too littlemeans for living. Some 30 percent of the families have either four or five children. Thegroups differ in dialect, religion and settlement. A significant number of Roma/Gypsypopulation (70 percent), known as Bajaši, speaks a dialect of the Romanian language (Ljimbaalu Bajašalor) and belongs either to Roman Catholic or Orthodox Church. The Romani čibdialects are spoken by Lovari, Kalderaši and Kanjari who identify themselves either asCatholics or Orthodox, as well as by Arlije, Gurbeti and Đambasi who belong to Islam. Theformer two groups consider themselves as autochthonous Croat Roma/Gipsies and feel distantfrom the third group that came recently from different parts of former Yugoslavia. These

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intra-group divisions have a negative impact on the promotion of Roma/Gypsy interests inCroatia. The population has now 16 different ethnic associations and institutions with noshared and integrated agenda which make it even more difficult for the group to define andpursue its common interests.

Religious composition of the country comprises the following communities (1991 Census):Roman Catholic 76.5Orthodox 11.1Islamic 1. 2Protestant 1. 4Atheists 3. 9Others or unknown 6. 9

The ecumenical dialogue has been held for a while among the high-ranked representatives ofmajor denominations although very little has yet been achieved at the lower levels of churchhierarchy and among the believers. Freedom of conscience and religion is guaranteed by theConstitution of the Republic of Croatia. Article 42 further stipulates that "All religiouscommunities are equal before the law and separated from the state." However, the process of"privatisation" of religion is still to be achieved. The transformation of the churches from aformer role of national gatekeepers to modern civil institutions is disjointed and slow inCroatia as in many post-communist countries, due to a long period in which religioussentiments were used and abused for political purposes.

The Croatian language and Latin script are in official use in the Republic of Croatia. TheConstitution stipulates that "in particular local units and under the terms regulated by laws,another language as well as Cyrillic and some other script may also be in use besides Croatianlanguage", (see the next chapter for details).

The state's markers derive from the history of Croatian people. The flag symbolises theunification of historical Croatian lands. It consists of red, white and blue that were the coloursof the 19th century Illyrian Movement known as Croatian national renaissance. In its centre isa shield-shaped coat of arms filled with red and silver squares and crowned with fivehistorical symbols: the oldest Croatian coat of arms and the coats of arms of the DubrovnikRepublic, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.

The days recognised as national holidays are: New Year's Day, Labour Day, Bleiburg and theWay of the Cross, Victims Day, Statehood Day, the Day of the Antifascist Struggle,Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Assumption of Mary and Christmas. Other holidays for whicha paid one-day-leave is guaranteed apply to the members of religious communities, i.e.Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany, Easter Monday, The Ramazan Bayram, All Saints' Day,Kurban Bayram, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

1.4. Economic context

Until very recently, Croatia was confronted by deep economic crisis which was thecombination of transitional recession and war devastation. It has sustained direct and indirectwar damages totalling to HRK 236.4 billion (US$ 37.4 billion. The GDP dropped by 21.1percent in 1991. In 1993 it fell by another 17.7 percent, and in 1993 by an additional 8percent. Of a total of 488 municipalities in the Republic of Croatia, 362 sustained war damage

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to a certain extent and some 1,200 companies suffered direct damage. The war also causedloss of some 150,000 jobs. Vast areas of agricultural land are still contaminated by land minesand unsafe for use. Industry and tourism were reduced to one third of their pre-war capacityuntil the summer of 2001. The structure of national economy in which agriculture accountedfor 10%, industry for 30% and services for 60% was severely disturbed. At the same time, theneed for nation building, extremely high war expenses, reconstruction, accommodation ofrefugees and displaced persons, the improvement of social well-being of the citizens, as wellas an expensive state apparatus, placed severe upward pressure on expenditures. Between1991 and 1999, public sector spending increased by more than 16 percent.

Some of the indicators for 1998 and 2001 are presented in the table below:

Selected economic indicators* 1998 2001GDP (mill US$) 21,628 21,195Real GDP (% growth rate) 2.52 4.21Real private consumption (% growth rate) -0.6 5.3 (I-IV)Real general govern. consumpt. (% growth rate) 2.3 -2.7 (I-III)Real investments(% growth rate) 2,5 11,6 (I-III)Industrial production (pa, %change) 3.7 7.0 (I-III)Trade balance (mill US$) -4,147 1,853 (I-V)Domestic public debt (mill US$) 15,047.8 22,900.2 (IV)External public debt (mill HRK) 21,049.7 43,430.3 (IV)Total public debt (% GDP) 26,2 38,2Unemployment rate (pa, % change) 17.2 22.75 (I-IV)Average monthly net wages (pa, % change) 12.8 8.3 (I-III)

*Source: The World Bank Country Office Zagreb (based on the Central Bureau of Statistics, Croatian NationalBank, Ministry of Finance)

Recently, the stabilisation program has begun to show the first signs of economic recovery.Upward trends are recorded in exports, industrial output, retail trade, salaries and tourist-bed-nights. Privatisation has been largely completed; nearly two thirds of the economy isprivatised and more than three quarters of banking assets are in private hands. In 2000, theGovernment reduced expenditures by some 5 percent of GDP and has continued to do so in2001. However, because of the high taxes a considerable part of the economic activity stillgoes underground thus reducing the profitability in the formal sector. The rate of investmentsis still very low.

2. Policies and legislative base

Three groups of documents are described below: • constitutional provisions, • the laws on education• the laws on the protection of human rights and freedoms and the rights of national and

ethnic minorities or communities

2.1. General considerations

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The Croatian authorities are in the process of preparing for extensive and systemic legislativechanges. A large number of new laws are being drafted with a view to making the legalsystem of the country more efficient in meeting the needs of democratic development andmore congruent with the European integration processes. The changes are pertinent to theStabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and Its MemberStates and the Republic of Croatia, initiated in May 2001, as well as to other international andnational agreements.

Croatia has signed and ratified a large number of international and European legal instrumentsrelevant for the promotion of EDC and MofD, including the European FrameworkConvention on the Protection of National Minorities and the Convention on the Elimination ofall Forms of Racial Discrimination. The government is now considering the acceptance ofArticle 14 of the Convention that would allow individuals and groups of individuals to filepetitions before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

2.1.1. The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia

The Constitution in Article 3 determines that "the highest values of the constitutional order ofthe Republic of Croatia are: freedom, equality, equality of nations and sexes, peacefulness,social justice, respect for human rights, inviolability of ownership, conservation of naturaland human environment, the rule of law, and a democratic multiparty system. Article 14establishes the fundamental principles of equality before the law as well as the right of everyindividual to enjoy all rights and freedoms "regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion,political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, education, social status orother characteristics". Among the civil and political liberties, the Constitution in Article 38guarantees the freedom of the media and prohibits censorship, while Article 39 stipulates thatany call for the incitement to national, racial or religious hatred or any form of intoleranceshall be prohibited and punishable.

Article 15 the Constitution refers to the right of the members of national minorities. Republicof Croatia guarantees equal rights to the members of all national minorities and, in particular,the right to express their nationality, to use freely their language and script ant to exercisetheir cultural autonomy. In addition to the general suffrage, the law may provide, to themembers of national minorities, the right to elect their own representatives to the CroatianParliament. Equality and protection of the members of national minorities are governed by theConstitutional law adopted according to the procedure valid for the adoption of organic laws.

Articles 40 establishes the freedom of conscience and religion and free public expression ofreligion or other conviction while the Article 42 stipulates that "all religious communities areequal before the law and separated from the state". Subject only to such limitations asprescribed by law, religious communities are free to practice their religion in public, establishand administer schools and institutes as well as social and charity institutions and "shall, intheir work, enjoy the protection of, and assistance from the state".

Articles 65-66 set forth the main principles related to education. The Constitution stipulatesthat "(p)rimary schooling shall be compulsory and free" and that "(e)veryone shall haveaccess, under the same conditions, to secondary and higher education in accordance with hisabilities". Under the conditions provided by law, citizens may open private schools andteaching institutions. In addition, Article 67 guarantees autonomy to the university in makingdecisions on its organisation and activities, in accordance with the law.

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2.1.2. The laws on education

The Law on Pre-school Upbringing and Education

The Law determines pre-school education as an integral part of the Croatian educationalsystem which begins with the nursery and kindergarten and ends up at the pre-collegiate level.It establishes the principles of equality of access, freedom of parental choice, and ahumanistic approach to child development as the basis for pre-school upbringing andeducation. It stimulates the variety of educational forms in which pre-school education can beestablished, including alternative and short-term specialised and school-preparationprogrammes and stipulates that these programmes may be carried out by public, private orchurch organisations. The main focus is on the fulfilment of comprehensive needs of pre-school children, their well-being and pro-social competencies as well as their parent's interestsfollowing humanistic and developmental approaches of high standard.

The Law on the Changes and the Amendments of the Law on Primary Schooling and theLaw on the Changes and the Amendments of the Law on Secondary Schooling

The new laws on the changes and amendments of the laws regulating primary and secondaryschooling passed through Parliament in June 2001, after a number of trials in drafting acomprehensive, non-partial law on education. Two main reasons for the adoption of changeswere said to be the quest for the decentralisation of financing and for fostering the autonomyof schools and local communities in decision-making and management. The need for assuringmore responsibility at local level was also mentioned among the reasons. Unfortunately, someof the major systemic strategies that have emerged recently, i.e. a standard drivenaccountability, whole school reform, market strategies and a horizontally and vertically shareddecision-making system, have not been discussed nor legally defined in Croatia yet.

Both new laws on primary and secondary schooling recognise schools as legal entities. Thefounder of educational institutions can be the Republic of Croatia, local and regional self-government units, religious communities and other legal and natural persons. Public needs inprimary schooling are determined by pedagogical standards issued by Parliament. Theteaching language is Croatian except for the minority school and the schools withinternational programmes. The laws stipulate that alternative programmes and methods maybe used in education and that parents and students have the right to choose the type, form andmethods of learning. School statutes regulate the organisation and governing of the school,including the election of the principal and the role of the parents' council. The main governingbody is the school committee comprising of representatives of teachers and teacher assistants,parents' council and the local/regional government. In the secondary school, therepresentatives of the students' council may participate in the work of the school committeewhen decisions on students' rights and responsibilities are made but have no right to vote. Thecommittee is solely responsible for the nomination of school principal. The laws also stipulatethat central and local/regional governments share in financing public schools. The resourcesfrom the state budget are allocated, inter alia, to teachers' salaries, in-service teacher training,additional expenditures for minority programmes and the programmes for the gifted,information provision to schools, co-financing of private schools and for capital investments.The Law on Education in Language and Script of National Minorities regulates the educationof primary and secondary school minority students.

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The Law on Higher Education

A draft new law on institutions of tertiary education has been prepared and is now beingreviewed and discussed in the academic community. It is influenced by the standards of theBologna Declaration, as well as the CRE International Institutional Quality Review and theReport of the Universities Project Visiting Advisors Programme of the Salzburg Seminar. It isexpected that the changes will target several major drawbacks of the existing system, inparticular the institutional autonomy in decision-making on personnel and allocation ofresources, academic freedom, standards of achievement, evaluation and quality control,transparency and accountability, partnership in financing, intra-institutional and inter-institutional co-operation, in particular between the Ministry of Science (responsible for thetertiary sector, including pre-service teacher education) and the Ministry of Education andSport (responsible for the pre-tertiary sector and in-service teacher training), etc.

The existing Higher Education Law (Article 3) recognises the principle of academicautonomy and freedom (freedom of scientific, artistic, and technological research andproduction; autonomy in designing educational, scientific, artistic, and professionalprogrammes; appointing personnel and heads of institutions, decision-making on studyregulations and student enrolment criteria, determination of internal organisation, etc.) butfails in determining apropriate standards, conditions and control mechanisms for the exerciseof such autonomy.

The Law on Scientific Research

As with the Law on Higher Education, a draft new Law on Scientific Research is in theprocess of being reviewed and discussed by research institutions and the university. Thefindings of the project on Scientific Policies of the South-East European Countries inTransition - Case Study: Croatia indicate a long-lasting marginalisation and stagnation of theR&D field caused by the lack of public awareness of the importance of scientific research forsocial development. Croatia has no systemic and long-term designed scientific researchpolicy. Investment in science is lagging far behind European standards, reaching as low as0.40 percent of GDP, financing is centralised while management is still politicised, theinfrastructure and support systems are underdeveloped, internationally recognised evaluationand quality control have not been established and a dynamic science-state-public interactionhas not yet been achieved.

The existing law stipulates that research activities in Croatia shall be outlined by the NationalScientific Research Program. Article 6 recognises the following principles as the bases forscientific research: a) freedom of research and creativity; b) public access to research results;c) protection of intellectual property rights; d) competitiveness of scientific programs andproposals; e) inalienability and safety of man' s individuality and dignity; f) scientific ethicsand the responsibility of scientists for the results of their work; g) environmental protection;h) links between scientific research and higher education, and i) international scientific co-operation.

Article 6 recognises the following principles as the bases for scientific research: a) freedom ofresearch and creativity; b) public access to research results; c) protection of intellectualproperty rights; d) competitiveness of scientific programs and proposals; e) inalienability andsafety of man' s individuality and dignity; f) scientific ethics and the responsibility of

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scientists for the results of their work; g) environmental protection; h) links between scientificresearch and higher education, and i) international scientific co-operation.

2.1.3. The laws on the protection of human rights and freedoms and the rights ofnational and ethnic minorities or communities

The Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and Rights of Ethnic andNational Communities and Minorities (Constitutional Law of Human Rights)

The Croatian authorities are now in the process of drafting a new constitutional law on therights of minorities in consultation with the Venice Commission mainly to overcome some ofthe shortcomings in the implementation of minority provisions. The existing Law providesextensive guarantees of the rights and freedoms of national and ethnic communities andminorities in key areas of life including non-discrimination and equality, free participation inthe public sphere, protection from any act that may endanger their existence; free choice andthe protection of their identity, free choice of education, public and private use of nativelanguage and script, freedom of religion, access to public media, development and protectionof cultural heritage, possession and public use of their collective objects and symbols, as wellas the freedom to organise for the protection of their interests. Article 5 explicitly guaranteesthe right to cultural autonomy. Furthermore, the Law addresses the issue of minorityparticipation in public affairs and minority representation at state and local levels, includingspecial administrative arrangements in areas where national minorities constitute aconsiderable proportion of the population. The Law also grants special status to certaindistricts with a majority of ethnic minority members, the provision that was reinforced in2000 after having been suspended for some years. Article 4 guarantees the assistance of theRepublic of Croatia in strengthening the relations between minorities and their states of originwith a view to promoting their national, cultural and linguistic development.

The Law on the Use of National Minorities Language and Script in the Republic of Croatia

The Law determines the conditions under which the languages and scripts of nationalminorities may be used in equal fashion to the Croatian language: in courts as well as in theprocedures and documentation of local and regional administration, in the names of publicinstitutions, geographical areas, streets, etc. This provision applies: a) to towns, municipalitiesand counties where national minority constitutes the majority in the population; b) when anequal use of minority language is ensured on the basis of an international agreement to whichCroatia is a signatory; c) when the use is recognised by the statute of a municipality or a town,and d) when it is recognised in the work of administration by the statute of a county on whoseterritory there are municipalities and towns where the provision is applied. In any case, anofficial use of minority language must be approved and recognised by the acts of a local unit.

The Law on Education in the Languages and Scripts of National Minorities

The Law sets the framework for the implementation of national minorities right to educationin their language and script from pre-school to the university level, comprising regularschools and other forms of education, such as seminars and summer and winter schools. Otherlaws regulate the establishment and management of such schools, and their legal status. TheLaw stipulates that minority schools and/or classes may be established with a smaller number

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of students than in the case of the majority language-led schools. According to Article 6, theminority education programme consists of a common core and specific minority subjects orcourses (minority language and literature, history, geography and culture). It is obligatory fora minority student to learn the Croatian language and the Latin script. Minority educationprogrammes are determined and approved by the Ministry of Education and Sport on the basisof reviews done by minority associations. Articles 10-15 envisage that: a) minority schooland/or class teachers should be qualified professionals, belonging to a minority or non-minority, who are fluent in the minority language and script; b) school documentation,certificates and diplomas are written in both minority and majority languages and scripts; c)the governing body of the minority school consists, at least, of a qualified majority of nationalminority representatives; d) a minority school principal may be chosen from the minoritygroup or from a non-minority group providing he/she is fluent in the minority language andscript; e) minority education advisers and minority school inspectors working in the Ministryof Education and Sport should be of a minority background or non-minority professionalswho are fluent in minority languages and scripts; f) minority school teachers are educated atappropriate institutions of higher education or are assisted in their preparation in another way;and g) minority schools may use textbooks from their native countries upon the approval ofthe Ministry. Minority education is financed from the state budget. Minority schools may alsoreceive additional funding from other resources.

2.2. Education for democratic citizenship

2.2.1. Curriculum

Croatia has no national curriculum in a proper sense of the word. As noted in The Basis forRestructuring of Educational System of the Republic of Croatia, "curricula do not define therequired level of knowledge to be acquired for the planned material neither do they define thetime required for a particular quantum of knowledge, i.e., for the processing of individualteaching units. Hence, the perpetual misconception of pupils being overloaded, of curriculabeing too extensive and impossible to complete". The (national) Plans and Programmes forPrimary and Secondary Schools issued by the Ministry of Education and Sport are acollection of elementary and secondary course objectives and contents developed byprofessionals belonging to particular disciplines. The document is still heavily program-oriented and lacks criteria for assessment and quality control. It reflects a centralised systemin which the Ministry controls the input (the programme and syllabuses) while the output (thelevel of students' learning) is left to teachers and their evaluation skills. The mandate ofschool inspectors is to control the implementation of a course's (school subject) programmeon the basis of school documentation, while educational advisers working at the Ministryassist the teachers in finding more adequate methods of a particular programmeimplementation.

The 1999 national Plan and Programme for Primary Schools has the National Human RightsEducation Programme included as part of regular school activities as Education for Human

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Rights and Democratic Citizenship Education. The document suggests that it may beimplemented cross-curricularly or as an optional subject or programme, in regular teaching, aswell as in extra-curricular activities depending on the school or teachers' preferences.Teachers are advised to decide on the implementation strategy in co-operation with theirstudents, colleagues in school, parents and local community having in mind the level of theirown preparation and of their students, as well as the availability of local resources, includingthe assistance of non-governmental organisations. Unfortunately, the implementation strategyhas not yet been devised, and it is still unclear to many teachers and school principals whetherthe integration of the National Human Rights Education Programme in formal schooling isobligatory or not. This means that its implementation still depends on teachers' interestsand/or the "permissiveness" of the school principal, who may refuse the programme on thebasis of an overloaded schedule. Neither The Basis for Restructuring of Educational System ofthe Republic of Croatia nor The Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic ofCroatia for the 21st Century has offered solutions to resolve this ambiguity. Moreover,neither of the documents has established clear relations to the National Human RightsEducation Programme and to EDC and MofD, in particular. The Programme is based on an integral, multifaceted and life-long approach to learning about,for and in human rights, democracy and civil society. It encompasses pre-school, lowerprimary, upper primary and secondary school programmes as well as an adult educationprogramme. The initial assumption of the Programme is that the right to education is the basisfor the exercise of all other rights and freedoms recognised as "the universal, indivisible andinalienable values of humanity". "Whether and to what extent the individual will develophis/her innate potentials to his/her own benefit, the benefit of his/her society, as well as offuture generations depends on learning and teaching goals, contents and methods".Consequently, the Programme envisages an education that is:• equally accessible to all, regardless of individual differences among students in view of

their national, ethnic, religious, linguistic or other background, opinion or worldview;• diversified in organisation, content and methodology so as to meet the individual needs of

every student and the general interests of the community to which the pupil belongs;• based on humanistic science and facilitated through the use of modern communication

and information technologies; • focused on respecting human dignity and the fundamental values of a democratic

community.

The main aim of the Programme is to assist children, young people and adults in learning thebasic principles and values of democracy and civil society, as well as to develop intellectualand social skills for an active and productive participation in a pluralist and parliamentarydemocracy. Human rights education is defined as a holistic and a life-long process of theacquisition of knowledge, skills, values and perspectives that are indispensable for thepromotion of personal dignity and democratic society. The axis of the Programme consists ofthe concepts of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, equality, social justice andinclusion, civil awareness and responsibility, pluralism and intercultural understanding,tolerance and the respect for differences, co-operation and partnership, peace and non-violentconflict resolution, as well social stability and security. It is said that individual freedom anddevelopment of society depend on "an individual understanding and acceptance of thesevalues, as well as on strengthening of social institutions for their promotion and protection".

The Programme comprises the following issues for each educational level:

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• national and international background and context (international and national humanrights standards, legal provisions, existing approaches, etc.)

• psychological and pedagogical foundations for the implementation of the programme; • specific objectives in the development of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and

behaviour;• programme units and specific topics; • implementation strategies (democratic school environment, methods and social forms in

learning/teaching for human rights).• systemic monitoring/observation, assessment and evaluation (quality of students'

interactions and team-work; self-awareness and respect for democratic rules andprocedures in the school; the cases of discrimination and exclusion on ethnic, religious,socio-economic or ability grounds)

• the role of the teacher (reflexive, competent, empowered and caring professional); • the prerequisites for a systemic approach to human rights education (appropriate legal

instruments; teacher training; preparation of school administration and educationalspecialists; co-operation and partnership with parents and local community, includinggovernmental and non-governmental organisations; development of teaching and learningmaterials; involvement of the media);

The implementation is based on two strategic concepts:a) the CARROT MULTI-LEVEL APPROACH - from a synergic individual experience at

the lower primary education level, through a descriptive analysis and interpretation at theupper primary education level, to an interdisciplinary synthesis at the tertiary education level;

b) the PIRA MULTI-METHOD APPROACH (participation, interaction, reflection andanticipation).

Global units that permeate the Programme at all levels:• ME level, relates to the development of self-awareness, personal autonomy, self-respect

and self-criticism;• ME AND THE OTHERS level, relates to the development of awareness of differences, the

development of openness, tolerance and respect for others, co-operation and solidarity;• US level, relates to understanding of the shared needs of society/community based on the

principles of human rights and freedoms, equality, justice, pluralism and interdependence;• THE WORLD AS A WHOLE level, refers to the development of global awareness, multiple

perspective, the sense for the interconnectedness of culture and nature, and the individualresponsibility for global changes.

2.2.2. Structural/organisational

The Croatian government has no specific policy on EDC that reflects broad democraticprinciples and basic human rights in the arrangements made for the government andmanagement of schools. With the exception of the National Human Rights EducationProgramme, these principles are more or less integrated into specific action programmestargeting, i.e., the issue of equality, as well as into more general strategic documents definingthe changes in education. Some of the documents are described below.

Working Programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the 2000 - 2004Period

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The Programme emerged from the Six-Party-Coalition Agreement on the organisation of thelegislative and executive power in the state. It is based on a fundamental commitment to thebuilding of a civil, democratic and market-oriented society integrated into the EuropeanUnion. The ultimate goal is the achievement of a free, safe and comfortable life for allCroatian citizens, by strengthening democratic processes and civil society. Particular goalsencompass: a) the development of a parliamentary system and the promotion of politicaldialogue and tolerance; b) the decentralisation of government functions and financing; c) thedevelopment of a modern, effective and feasible legislative system with a view to achievingthe highest level of human rights protection; d) the promotion of the quality of citizens' life byfostering economic growth; e) the acceleration of privatisation and restructuring; f) theintegration of Croatia into European and global economic associations, including thepromotion of free trade and competitiveness; g) the implementation of an effective socialwelfare policy; h) the establishment of efficient health care services; h) the increase in budgettransfer to education, science and culture; i) the promotion of co-operation and friendlyrelations at the international level and good neighbourly relations.

National Programme of Action for Children in the Republic of Croatia

The Programme was adopted by the government in 1998 in compliance with the UN GeneralAssembly Resolution on the World Summit for Children held in 1990, which, inter alia,requires all states and other members of the international community to act towards achievingthe goals defined by the World Declaration and the Plan of Action. Furthermore, thegovernment issued a decision on establishing a national Council for Children. The main taskof the Council is to continuously monitor the implementation of the National Programme ofAction, as well as to co-ordinate the activities of the government and other organisations inthe field. The Programme addresses, inter alia, the protection of the rights of the child,specific needs of poor children and their families, as well as of disabled children and thoseliving with the risk. Its main strategy is focused on public awareness raising with a view tomake the problems of these groups of children widely known. National Policy of the Republic of Croatia for the Promotion of Equality

The Policy was adopted in 1997 in line with the Declaration and the Platform of Action of theFourth World Conference of Women held in Beijing in 1995. The Platform stresses the needfor the empowerment of women in decision-making processes in all spheres of life. CroatianNational Policy for the Promotion of Equality defines 12 target areas, including goals,measures and implementation mechanisms in relation to the promotion and protection of thehuman rights of women and their equality; strengthening their position in political structures;their health protection, education, in-service training, and their participation in the economy,science and culture. It also sets guidelines for the prevention of violence to, anddiscrimination against women and discusses the risks to women in armed conflicts. TheGovernment Commission on Equality has been established with a view to promoting andmonitoring the implementation of the national policy in line with the Beijing principles.

The Basis for Restructuring the Education System of the Republic of Croatia

The text was developed as an attempt to analyse the current educational situation and todefine priorities for developing a "21st century Croatian school" in the context of Europeanintegration. Education is seen as a national strategic priority tightly linked to development,

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globalisation and identity formation. Influenced by the UNESCO fourfold strategy for thepromotion of education pertinent to the 21st century (learning to be, to know, to act and tolive together), the document outlines the main purposes, objectives and principles ofeducational reform, including organisation, educational standards, curricula, assessment andevaluation procedures, teacher pre-service and in-service preparation, financing, etc. Amongthe principles of educational reform are: the promotion of human rights, pluralism anddemocratic values, as well as the right to choose, equality of opportunity and the rights ofminorities; development of the European identity; strengthening of autonomy anddecentralisation processes; promoting professional ethics and responsibility; enhancingintellectual capital and international compatibility, etc.

The Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Croatia for the 21stCentury

The Strategy has been developed as an integral part of a comprehensive strategy fordevelopment of the Republic of Croatia in the 21st century. The task was carried out by 19groups of domestic and international experts under the auspices of the Croatian government.The government adopted the document in June 2001. The key principles on which theStrategy is based are the following: person-centred approach, justice, openness, responsibility,confidence, co-operation, globalisation, identity development, efficiency, demographicrecovery, the promotion of human resources and optimism. The document defines prioritiesand objectives in three broad areas: society, economy and international relations. Socialchanges encompass administration, judiciary system, education, science, technology,communisation and information technology (E-Croatia), health protection, social security,culture, environment, and regional development.

Educational strategy is based on a broad analysis of the existing situation. The findingsdemonstrate that Croatian educational system does not comply with the European standardsand that it lacks in-built mechanisms for promoting structural changes. The key strategicobjective of educational reform is seen as "a modern, plural, efficient and development-oriented system of lifelong education based on the concepts of 'education for all' and the'learning society'. The following changes are proposed:

• developing staff, infrastructure and financial resources for the integration of all childreninto the pre-school programmes in the year prior to the elementary school;

• reducing primary education to a period of 6 years while extending compulsory educationto 9-10 years, including more optional courses and more open possibilities at the post-compulsory educational level, all in the context of lifelong learning

• reforming national curricula• giving top priority to the promotion of information-communication technologies in

education• enhancing the efficiency of higher/university education by reducing the length of pre-

graduate study and by making it more general, while extending the post-graduate study• strengthening of the quality control in higher/university education, enhancing

international co-operation in designing and implementing the curricula and in developinguniversity management

• recognising formal and informal adult education as part of an overall educational policy,provide better integration of adult education programmes and balancing them with themarket needs

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• increasing investments in education, decentralisation of educational management and theimprovement of educational infrastructure

• modernisation of teacher training and education• promoting education for democratic society by affirming pluralism and by strengthening

school autonomy and the role of school in a local community development.

2.2.3. Teacher training

The government has no policy on the content of, or priorities for initial teacher training and/orfor in-service teacher training except for the organisation and duration of pre-serviceprogrammes. This is mainly due to the fact that decisions on teacher training are dividedbetween the Ministry of Education and Sport and the Ministry of Science and Technology.The former is responsible for in-service teacher training, while the latter is central for pre-service teacher education. The Ministry of Education and Technology determinesorganisation, conditions and enrolment quotas for teacher training, while the Ministry ofEducation and Sport is expected to set educational (pedagogical) standards, the task that hasnot been achieved satisfactorily, yet There is no clear dialogue scheme between the twoministries nor the body established at the government level with a mandate to co-ordinatetheir work in this area.

Pre-service teacher training is carried out in two types of institutions: teachers' training andnon-teachers' institutions of higher education. Teacher training institutions are of two types: a)non-university teachers' academies and teachers' high schools (for teachers of primaryschools) and b) (university) pedagogical and other teachers' training faculties (for teachers ofsecondary schools). Teachers graduating from non-teacher training institutions (e.g. technicalhigh schools or faculties) must complete special pedagogical-psychological courses prior to orupon their employment by schools.

Duration of the courses of study is determined on the basis of the curriculum’s complexityand the time necessary for its mastery. Undergraduate university studies last at least four yearswhile undergraduate professional studies last at least two years. University teacher trainingcurricula are drafted by teacher training institutions, adopted by faculty councils, reviewed bythe National Council for Higher Education, approved by the University Senate and financedby the Ministry of Science and Technology. The strategies and mechanisms of qualityassessment and control are either non-existent or underdeveloped.

2.3. Valuing cultural diversity and social cohesion

2.3.1 Curriculum

In 1991 when Croatia parted from Yugoslavia the national priorities became democratisation,privatisation and European integration, on the one side, and national renewal and integration,on the other side. The long-term objectives of educational reform were defined as: a) life-longlearning; b) extension of elementary schooling; c) application of modern information-communication technologies and d) development of pre-graduate and post-graduate teachertraining programs. Short-term objectives included: • de-ideologisation and depoliticisation of schools, programmes and textbooks;• changing of educational legislative;

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• shift from Yugoslav patriotism to national identity;• introduction of new curricula in all forms and levels of education in line with developed

countries, including the reintroduction of gymnasium• reintegration of religious classes and religious schools into the school system, and the• establishment of private schools.

The framework in which the changes took place was termed "Croatisation". The process wasunderstood in terms of standardisation of the Croatian language and the renewal of Croatiantraditional values, religion, national symbols and national institutions, with a due reference tothe strengthening of pluralism, as well as the European and global perspective. Such acombination of priorities became a challenge to educational authorities for at least threereasons: a) the system was still highly centralised; b) the principle of pluralism, ethnic andreligious in particular, appeared inconsistent with the principle of national renewal and c) theattack on Croatia further strengthened ethnocentric tendencies in education. Thus, in the firsthalf of the 90s, instead of pluralism and democracy, education (at the level of policy drafting,school management and staffing, curricula and textbooks) became permeated with textsconveying the ideas of national exclusiveness, purity and homogenisation. The issues ofequality of differences, multiple identities and social inclusiveness were devalued andsuppressed. Education (history and literature, in particular) became a powerful instrument forthe transmission of Croatocentrism and/or an "integrated Croat-ness" that refused to seenational, ethnic and religious diversities as a key trait of Croatian society and as anenrichment of Croatian history.

To minimise the "misuses and abuses" of education in the democratic development ofCroatian society in the future, it is important that the Ministry of Education and Sport reviewsthe existing policies and practices in order to be able to set up convincing and efficientguidelines for a democratic and inclusive school practice based on a more balanced reading ofthe three main documents: Working Programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatiafor the 2000 - 2004 Period, The Basis for Restructuring of Educational System of the Republicof Croatia and The Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Croatia forthe 21st Century. It seems that these documents are developed with no reference to each otherand that the latter two lack coherent view on educational changes in the context of aninclusive pluralist policy as a means of strengthening equality, democracy and socialcohesion.

The national Plan and Programme for Primary and Secondary school refers to the need forenriching cultural diversity in defining the objectives of specific courses but does notexplicitly refer to inclusive identities nor does it address the need for social cohesion based onthe recognition of the principle of pluralism. As in many other countries in the world, theprinciple of cultural pluralism is recognised in the Croatian educational system mainly interms of minority educational provisions. The approach reflects rather narrow understandingof multiculturalism in which different groups are served by the state in pursuing theirparticular educational interests while the "shared" interests are believed to be assured throughthe core of national curriculum to which all groups must ascribe. Needless to say, such"ethnocentric multiculturalism" in which there is no exchange of ideas, values and practicesamong the groups is far too inadequate for making cultural diversities instrumental for socialcohesion.

Minority education in Croatia is an integral part of the national educational system. Itsorganisation, structure and content is determined by the Constitutional Law on Human Rights

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and Freedoms and Rights of Ethnic and National Communities and Minorities, The Law onEducation in the Languages and Scripts of National Minorities and the general laws onprimary and secondary education, as well as by the national Plan and Programme. Accordingto Article 6 of the Law on Education in the Languages and Scripts of National Minorities,minority education programmes consist of a common core and specific minority subjects orcourses (minority language and literature, history, geography and culture). They aredetermined and approved by the Ministry of Education and Sport upon the reviews done byminority associations and are fully financed from the state budget. Minority children may beeducated in their native language and script from the pre-school to higher education level inone out of three officially recognised models of minority education. Roma/Gypsy children arechiefly in mainstream schools; some also attend summer schools where they learn about theirnative culture, history, literature, etc. Minority programmes rarely involve principles of EDCand/or inter-culturalism, Notwithstanding, some multinational/multiethnic counties jointlydevelop multicultural programmes to celebrate international days (e.g. Vukovar for theEuropean Day).

Another aspect of diversity reflected in the curricula relates to religion. Religious educationwas introduced into schools in 1991/92 as a 2 hours per week optional subject. Depending onthe number of students, it may be organised in schools or in religious communities. RomanCatholic religious classes are organised in schools for almost 80 percent of all primary schoolstudents and 77 percent of all secondary school students. Other religious communities(Orthodox Church, Evangelical Church, Jewish Community, Islamic Community, AdventistChurch, Evangelical Church etc.) chiefly organise religious instruction inside theirinstitutions. Each religious community proposes its programme to the Ministry. Theprogramme is implemented upon its verification by the Ministry of Education and Sport.


In the Working Programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the 2000 - 2004Period the protection of minority rights and the promotion of their status is recognised as "oneof the fundamental political tasks of the Government", relying on the constitutional and legalprovisions, relevant international documents and a positive tradition of inter-ethnic relationsin Croatia. "The continued renewal and building of multi-ethnic confidence is the basis for thestability of the democratic order as one of the significant elements of Croatian nationalinterests." The government has committed itself to promoting the status of minorities in co-operation with the international community and, thus, expects international support andassistance in this process. To this end, it will:• take "all the required steps to eliminate elements of inequality of Croatian citizens,

members of minority communities, present in practice";• provide for the "full enforcement of laws regulating the rights of minorities and assuring

their liberties, equality, and preservation and recognition of their identity and theirparticipation in public life";

• "remove all the obstacles that thwart full civil integration of national minority members inCroatian society", and

• propose, inter alia, adequate solutions for assuring positive discrimination in electorallegislation so as to provide, along with general civil rights, for their special rights as wellin the proposing and election of their representatives.

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The document stresses that "the members of minorities living in Croatia represent a bridge forthe advancement of relations with their countries of origin" and that they also "encourage thecountries whose compatriots live as a minority in the Republic of Croatia to improve thestatus of the Croatian minority in such countries and to provide for their liberties and rights".

Unfortunately, the government commitments to developing an inclusive strategy forpromoting cultural pluralism and minority education in Croatia have not been fully reflectedin strategic documents. An inclusive educational strategy based on the recognition and respectfor cultural diversities in which the minority interests are merged with the interests of themainstream society remains to be developed.


The government has no policy on the content of, and priorities for, pre-service teachertraining and/or in-service teacher training for MofD apart from the basic assumptions thatderive from the requirements of specific disciplines, the science of didactics (general theoryof teaching methods) and the laws regulating mainstream or minority education. One of thesetbacks for higher education reform in this field is the dissolution of the National Council onHigher Education whose mandate included the issues of teacher education. According to theLaw on Education in the Languages and Scripts of National Minorities minority programmesare taught by qualified professionals belonging to minorities or non-minority professionalswho are fluent in specific minority language and script. Minority teachers are trained atappropriate institutions of higher education or are "assisted in their preparation in anotherway".

2.4. Cross-cutting issues

2.4.1. Life-long learning

Instead of the notion of life-long learning, life-long education is mentioned as a strategicconcept among Croatian professionals and policy-makers. It is mostly understood in terms ofschooling of adults than in terms of a continuous and inclusive system of formal, non-formaland in-formal opportunities to learn throughout life. This tendency is the result of severalfactors. Croatia has a long tradition of adult education with its first institutions established asfar as in 1912. After WW2 a number of people's universities, workers' universities and acertain number of adult primary schools, evening secondary and post-secondary schools wereestablished. Many of them were well staffed and equipped making the Croatian adulteducation system one of the most developed in Europe. Nevertheless, the educational reformof the 70s, based on the idea of learning at the work place instead of in educationalinstitutions, led to fragmentation and almost caused the dissolution of the whole system. Bythe beginning of the 90s the system underwent another series of changes. Andragogy, aseparate discipline of pedagogy - i.e. the science of education - for research in adult educationthat dominated the field, was now attacked as "a fabrication of communism". The financialassistance to andragogical centres as well as to the publication of a unique Croatianandragogical journal was halted.

In the meantime, a life-long focus on adult education was stressed. Adult education becamelegally recognised as an integral part of primary and secondary education. Finally, the Law onFolk Open Universities, of 1997, provided for institutional and programmatic diversification

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of adult education. The 1996 network of adult education institutions with approvedprogrammes consisted of 51 adult secondary schools, folk open universities, private adultschools and other institutions with similar programmes. From the middle of the 90s thenumber of programmes in human rights education, non-violent conflict resolution andfacilitation, education for democracy, tolerance and intercultural understanding, etc. has beengrowing rapidly. The 1998 Summer Academy organised by the Croatian Community of Folkand Open Universities focused solely on education for human rights and democracy. Teachersat the Zagreb Folk and Open University were invited by the National Human RightsEducation Committee to develop the National Adult Human Rights Education Program andare now providing training for trainers in the filed, in co-operation with university professors,non-governmental organisation and the Ministry of Education.

The concept of lifelong-learning is referred to in The Basis of the Education System in theRepublic of the Ministry of Education but is inadequately defined. The document states that"One of the most important functions of the contemporary school is to develop a child’smotivation to adopt learning and to acquire knowledge as a constituent part of life, developingthe need and ability for life-long learning.

The first official text in which life-long education is recognised as the key strategy foreducational change is the Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic ofCroatia for the 21st Century. The document defines future the Croatian educational system asa network of formal, non-formal and informal institutions of different levels and forms closelylinked through the strategy of continuous partnership. The life-long perspective in educationis explicitly defined as the prerequisite for strengthening civil society and for sustainableeconomic development.

2.4.2. Research and policy development

Research activities in Croatia are regulated by the Law on Scientific Research. Scientificprojects are carried out by the faculties, institutes and institutions for higher education. Thepriorities of the National Programme on Scientific Research for the 1996-1999 Period arederived from the scientific fields/disciplines and do not include any reference to educationalpolicy development. No explicit reference is made to the development of democracy and civilsociety and to EDC and MofD, in particular. Although the mandate of the National ScientificCouncil is said to ensure systematic development of scientific research activity by evaluatingthe results as well as the position and development of science from the standpoint ofinternational comparison, quality and the benefit to the society, until now little has been doneto assess the impact and the role of scientific research on society development. The Report ofthe Universities Project Visiting Advisors Programme of the Salzburg Seminar conducted inMay 2000 states that despite the fact that the "universities have the intellectual capital and theknow-how to make tremendous contributions to national development and prosperity (...) theyhave not been invited as partners in developing societies’ reform nor do they seek partnershipwith industry, government and NGOs to enhance its role in the society". It is unclear whetherthe issues of EDC and MofD would be explicitly addressed in the future in a new researchpolicy, the draft of which seems to focus on achieving more unity among research, educationand economic development. The main aim is to make the system more flexible and open toinnovations, including virtual possibilities (e.g. virtual clinics for remote coastal areas).

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2.4.3. International co-operation

The Government is now becoming more active in seeking international, bilateral andmultilateral co-operation in devising and implementing educational reform. Such lateinvolvement is, at least partly, the outcome of the fact that the country was (and in some fieldsis still) deprived of the main international assistance programs throughout the last decade fordifferent, mainly political, reasons. In 2000 Croatia hosted high delegations of five SEEcountries, the EU and other international organisation at the Zagreb Summit, organised with aview to promoting reconciliation and co-operation, as well as to strengthening democracy andstability in the region with the support and assistance of the European Community. The FinalDeclaration of the Summit announced the launching of the Community assistance programknown as CARDS (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Democratisation andStabilisation) that is now in operation. Croatia is also an active partner in the Stability Pactand other international programmes. However, in relation to EDC and MofD, the Ministry ofEducation and Sport still plays a passive role in establishing international co-operation. It ismore a receiver than an active seeker of international support and assistance. A number ofprojects that are carried on in this field have been officially approved by the Ministry, mostlybased on ad hoc agreements between the Ministry and an international organisation orinstitution.

2.4.4. Quality assurance

As stated earlier, Croatia has no policy for quality assurance in education. The issue hasreceived considerable attention during the last decade but no satisfactory solution has yet beenfound.. Primary and secondary education is still predominantly program-oriented, whilehigher education is more professor-oriented. The existing Pedagogical Standard regulates asmall portion of the problem, mainly related to organisational and financial aspects ofteaching at the pre-tertiary level. The Ministry of Education and Sport is now in the process ofdefining new criteria but draft papers do not explicitly address the EDC and MofDdimensions. According to the Report of the Universities Project Visiting Advisors Programmeof the Salzburg Seminar, of May 2000, "The level of accountability is partly due to the lack ofevaluation and transparent processes. (...) Neither university nor faculty assurance strategy hasbeen developed. The pilot process to evaluate teaching staff has not received any significance.(...) The Young Researchers Programme that was introduced few years ago still has nomechanism for a systemic, cross-faculty evaluation. (I)t should be a part of a universityquality assessment strategy that no university has developed yet."

2.4.5. Information and communication technologies

The development of information and communication technologies in education is recognisedas one of the top priorities in all official papers dealing with educational reform. In The Basisfor Restructuring of Educational System of the Republic of Croatia, the diversity ofcommunication is recognised as one of the key principles of educational reform andinformation technology literacy as one of the main objectives of a new national curriculum.The Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Croatia for the 21stCentury links information communication technologies to knowledge and skill acquisition,counselling, assessment, co-operation and system development. No explicit reference to theimplementation of ITC in EDC and MofD has been made in these documents.

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The Ministry of Education and Sport's document on the Informatisation of School Systemdefines the objectives of informatisation of schools; elementary computer literacy for all;communication-information infrastructure; training of teachers and professional assistants;co-operation and partnership in relation to informatisation of schools, etc. The document isthe basis for the development of School Network CROSNET, aiming at linking all pre-tertiaryschools with the Ministry of Education and Sport, providing schools' with access to theInternet, the setting up of a central register and data-bank and preparing teachers for the use ofITC in their daily work. The Ministry of Science and Technology has issued a similardocument for the tertiary education sector.

3. Policy implementation measures


Since January 2000, the Croatian government has been busy in redefining national prioritiesto bring them closer to the European standards of developing social and economic well-being,democracy, civil society, pluralism and social cohesion. These goals were clearly recognisedin the Working Programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the 2000 - 2004Period. The document also points out that education is one of the strategic instruments forpromoting democratic changes. Notwithstanding, education has not received full attention,neither from the government nor from society. There is still a tendency to devalue theimportance of educational reform in comparison to other sectors of society (e.g. the share ofeducation is only 3.4 percent of GDP). This might mean that education is still perceived interms of spending, instead of in terms of an important resource for society's development.

In 2000 The Basis for Restructuring of Educational System of the Republic of Croatia and inJune of 2001 The Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Croatia forthe 21st Century were launched, defining WHAT SHOULD BE DONE in education to meetsociety's ends. The former document was developed by a group of experts from the NationalSchool Council of the Ministry of Education and Sport and is, therefore, supported by theMinistry. The latter is the work of a group of experts nominated by the central governmentand it has full support from there. Since these two documents differ in many respects (e.g. thelevel of consistency and comprehensiveness), it is necessary to consolidate their approachesand to decide explicitly HOW the changes will be achieved with respect to curricula andtextbooks, teacher preparation, organisation and management of schools, financing, qualityassessment, responsibility of central and local governments, co-operation with thecommunity, etc. In this context, the development of EDC and MofD must be also addressed.

3.2. Education for democratic citizenship

3.2.1 Curriculum

The national Plans and Programmes for Primary and Secondary Schools do not dealspecifically with the issues of implementation. The documents are still programme/course-oriented. It is taken for granted that all schools implement the national Programme on a 45

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minute-class basis for which they receive money from the state's budget or (recently) partlyfrom local governments. However, the publication on the National Human Rights EducationProgramme does deal with the implementation measures. Apart from defining the objectives,contents, (units of knowledge and skills for each age cohort) and assessment procedures, theProgramme addresses the issue of implementation in reference to legal provisions, schoolmanagement and organisation, teacher and parent preparation, co-operation with NGOs andlocal community associations, teaching/learning materials, financing, etc.

The National Human Rights Education Programme was developed by experts who workedunder the auspices of the National Human Rights Education Committee of the Government ofCroatia in the context of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). It rests onthe results of the UNESCO and the Netherlands Government sponsored project Peace andHuman Rights for Croatian Primary Schools and the Calabasas Centre for Civic EducationProject Citizen and the Constitution - Foundations of Democracy. Upon the revision made byover 40 NGOs and international organisations, as well as the approval by the government, theProgramme was published in a separate edition and disseminated to primary and secondaryschools. It does not refer explicitly to EDC although it does include all key dimensions ofEDC and MofD, e.g. the notion of an empowered, active and responsible citizen;implementation strategies (insertion, cross-curricular permeation, the combination of both);reference to particular knowledge, skills, values and competencies; arrangements to ensurethat human rights education goals are well reflected in the curriculum and learning/teachingmaterials, etc. Ad hoc observation of its implementation in some schools shows that teacherswho have adequate preparation manage to efficiently integrate the human rights educationprogramme into their courses and that they sometimes do that in co-operation with localNGOs thus linking several other projects under the human rights education umbrella.

The Ministry of Education and Sport is in the midst of developing an implementation policyfor the National Human Rights Education Programme for primary and secondary schools,based on reviews and evaluation of existing practice. It is expected that it will address EDCand MofD issues with a view to integrating them more explicitly into the programme. Thepolicy should also take into account a number of educational activities that are carried on byNGOs at the local level in peaceful conflict-resolution, civic and political literacy, democracy,social responsibility, the rule of law, equality, human rights or the child's rights. Throughoutthe last decade, while the regular system was "frozen", Croatian NGOs were engaged inpreparing teachers to deal with new educational concepts and approaches. Some, e.g. Centrefor Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights; Forum for the Freedom of Education; SmallStep; Centre for Peace Studies; European House; School of Peace, have enough expertise tobe recognised by the Ministry of Education and Sport in its attempt to strengthen humanrights education in schools.


The development and implementation of the National Human Rights Education Programme isco-ordinated by the Human Rights Education Committee, a special body of the governmentestablished in 1996 with the mandate to deal with the matters of human rights promotion andprotection through education at a national level. Upon the establishment of the NationalHuman Rights Committee in 2000, the National Human Rights Education Committee cameunder the Ministry of Education and Sport with the mandate to assess the implementation ofthe Programme, propose changes and co-ordinate teacher training in this field. In order to

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ensure more efficient implementation of the Programme at the local and school level, theMinistry of Education and Sport has recently nominated 21 human rights education countyco-ordinators. Full co-operation between them and the Ministry as well as between theNational Human Rights Education Committee and the National Human Rights Committeeremains to be established.

Part of the implementation and assessment tasks in human rights education, includingprobably EDC and MofD dimensions, will in the future be carried out by a newly establishedCentre for Educational Research and Development, a joint initiative of the Government of theRepublic of Croatia/Ministry of Science and Technology and the Open Society Foundation.The Centre is charged with assisting the government in designing implementation policy andconcrete measures for the Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic ofCroatia for the 21st Century.

Several other institutions and bodies in the state structure that are directly related to thepromotion of human rights may influence development and implementation of human rightseducation and EDC in Croatia in the future:• Croatian Parliament Committee for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities• Ombudsman• Office of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for National Minorities• Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the Relations with

Religious Communities• Office of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for non-governmental organisations


Due to the lack of clear priorities and a comprehensive strategy for the development of highereducation, faculties and their departments are in reality extremely autonomous in changing thecontent of the curricula. Without a systemic study in this field, it is difficult to say with anyprecision which teachers' training institutions in Croatia run courses that promote EDC andMofD. Currently, several pre-graduate and post-graduate courses integrating the principles ofEDC and MofD are carried out at the University of Zagreb:

• Teachers' Academy has two optional pre-service courses: Education for Human Rights(Department for primary-school class teachers' training) and Education forDevelopment (Department for pre-school teachers' training);

• Department of Education of the Faculty of Philosophy conducts several coursesrelevant for this field: Interculturalism and Education, Educational Anthropology(pre-graduate level) and Intercultural Pedagogy (post-graduate level). From2000/2001 the academic year 2000/2001, an integrated scheme of postgraduateeducation has been introduced comprising the following teaching units:

- Human Rights, Civil Society and Education- New Paradigms in National Minorities Education- Educational Programmes for a Culturally Plural Societies: Comparative Analysis of Aims, Objectives, Contents and Methods- Global Dimensions of Interculturalism: Theory and Implementation- Intercultural training Strategies- Educational Policies of International Organisations- Community-Family-School Partnership in Pre-school Education

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- The Rights of Children in Contemporary Croatian Family Law- Democratisation of Education- Active Learning Strategies - Educational Innovations: Choice-Movement, Home-Schooling and Email Education- European Integration and Educational Changes- Global and Regional Strategies for Educational Changes- School Autonomy and Self-organisation - Alternative Schools- Active and Co-operative Learning

In-service professional development is obligatory for all teachers. Each school is also requiredto organise professional development through teachers' councils. Unfortunately, the majorityof councils are focused on professional and disciplinary issues.

Training in the implementation of the National Human Rights Education Programme hasbeen organised by the Ministry of Education on a regional basis since 1999. Until June 2000it was organised by the Ministry in co-operation with the Human Rights EducationAssociates, a non-governmental organisation from the US. Since September 2000 all seminarshave been organised by the Ministry. By June 2001 over 1,500 pre-school, primary andsecondary school teachers had received basic training in human rights education. Up till now,there is no teacher pre-service and in-service policy that recognises the development of themethodologies and approaches essential to the pursuit of EDC in the context of human rightsteaching and/or learning.

It is important to note that from 2000/2001 the Ministry of Education and Sport hasrecognised teachers' training certificates issued by some NGOs as valid documents forteachers' professional promotion. The Ministry has also recently prepared the Guide forSchool Principals with the addresses of those NGOs that "support educational system inCroatia and contribute to the implementation of national educational objectives".

3.3. Valuing cultural diversity and social cohesion

3.3.1 Curriculum

Forms of education of minority children are determined by the Law on Education in theLanguages and Scripts of National Minorities. Three models are at present used in Croatia: Model A - education in the national minority language in a way that Croatian programmes aretranslated to the minority language; the Croatian language is learned for 4 hours per weekfrom the beginning to the end of schooling;Model B (bilingual education) - social subjects/humanities are taught in the national minoritylanguage while natural sciences are taught in Croatian language; here, too, minority studentslearn the Croatian language for 4 hours per week from the beginning to the end of schooling;Model C - nurturing the native language and culture (5 additional hours per week);

Specific implementation policy for minority education is not devised apart from legalregulations and minority programmes as such.

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National minority children may be educated in their native language and script from pre-school to higher education level. All minority schools are part of the national educationsystem and are financed by the Ministry of Education and Sport. The number of educationalinstitutions with minority programmes (all models) in 2000:

Minority Pre-schoolPrimarySchool

Secondaryschool

HigherEducation

Serbian 10 34 9 -Italian 24 17 4 1Czech 2 4 (11) 1 -Hungarian 2 3 (20) 4 -Slovak - 4 - -

In February 2001, the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the Model for theRealisation of National Minority Members' Rights developed by the Office for NationalMinorities, to serve as the framework for the 2001 distribution of the state budget toprogrammes and activities of the national minority organisations and institutions. The Modelenvisages a special programme for Roma/Gipsy population as well as a special Roma/Gipsyconsultant with the mandate to monitor the implementation of the programme. Two criteriaare defined for the selection of the consultant. He/she should be the member of theRoma/Gipsy population and should not hold any higher position in any of the Roma/Gipsyorganisations or institutions.

Another source of support for minority programmes is the Office of the Government of theRepublic of Croatia for Non-governmental Organisations. The Office was established in 1998upon an Act passed by the Government with the aim of establishing confidence andpromoting co-operation between the Government and NGOs as the essential prerequisite forthe development of Croatian civil society. The Office initiated the drafting of a new Law onAssociation and included NGOs representatives into the expert group to prepare thedocument. Recently, it has initiated a national dialogue to test the provision of the draftdocument. Interested parties can place their comments either with the Office or with theMinistry for Justice, Administration and Local Self-Government. Since January 2001, theOffice has been working in the framework of the Programme of Co-operation of theGovernment of Croatia with Non-governmental - Non-profit Sector in the Republic ofCroatia, a legally non-binding document that has a strong moral influence as it was developedthrough joint action of the Government and NGOs. The document recognises the NGO sectoras an integral part of social and political life in Croatia, and sees NGOs as partners to theGovernment in defining public interests. It determines the rights and duties of both partiestoward each other and defines areas of co-operation, namely drafting laws, consultation in theprocess of development of national programmes, evaluation of national policies,decentralisation, financial support to non-governmental sector etc. Some of the key principlesof co-operation are:- partnership

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- transparency in the work of the Government and the NGOs sector- strengthening the independence of the civil sector- responsible use of public resources- promotion of equal opportunities for all- respect for the principle of subsidiarity as the basis for partnership- active promotion of non-violence and the recognition of differences

In 1998, the Office developed a Model of Governmental Support to NGOs’ programmes insocial welfare, human rights, education, active participation of young people, etc. Theprocedures and the results of the tender were publicised in daily press and the NationalGazzete. Some of the future activities of the Office are:

• Development of decentralisation schemes for financial support to NGOs, in particular,providing support to regional community centres for the development of co-operationamong local authorities, profit sector representatives and NGOs

• Training of public administrators (central and local) for more efficient co-operationwith NGOs

• Enhancing transparency of the Office and of all state and local administration bodies • Development of NGOs financial assistance and evaluation models for the allocation of

state budget.

In the field of human rights protection and promotion, the government has been latelyinitiating a number of actions, mostly in co-operation with international organisations.Amongst them are: • the launching of an international conference on human rights and democratisation (in co-

operation with the UNHCR and the European Commission); • the establishment of the Commission on Human Rights and the National Human Rights

Education Committee; • the development of the National System and Programme for Human Rights Promotion

and Protection; • the establishment of the Office for Human Rights, the National Committee for

International Humanitarian Rights, the Working Group on Racism, Racial Discrimination,Xenophobia and Intolerance, soon to be reorganised into the National Committee; theestablishment of the National Committee for the Promotion of a Multiethnic andDemocratic Society;

• the launching of the Human Rights Journal, and • the opening of the Human Rights Documentary Centre in Zagreb in co-operation with the

UNHCR.


See under 2.2.3. and 3.2.3

3.4. Cross-cutting issues

3.4.1. Life-long learning

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See under 2.4.1.

3.4.2. Research and policy development

Although Croatia lacks policy implementation measures, some of the ongoing projects of theMinistry of Science and Technology bearing relevance for the development in EDC andMofD fields are:

- School Curriculum and the Characteristics of Croatian National Culture;- Democratic and National Croatian Politics in the 90s;- Youth Value System and Social Changes in Croatia;- Educational Aspects of Reintegration;- Psychosocial Adaptation of Children after the War and School Support;- Croatian Democracy and Its Media;- Quality of University Teaching;- Minorities - Croatia's Link to Europe;- Croatian History Standards;- Educational Model for Croatian Danubian Region;- Religious Communities in Croatia and Their Role in Integration Processes;- Nation and Religion: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam;- Modern Democracy and the Republic of Croatia;- Political Culture in Croatia;- Structuring of Local Management and Self-management;- Adult Education in Croatia Based on Social Changes;- Educational Assistance to Displaced and Returned Children;- Pedagogical Aspects of Innovative Primary School Curriculum

3.4.3. International co-operation

International co-operation relevant for the implementation of EDC and MofD principlesencompasses a number of projects carried on in Croatia on the basis of agreements betweenthe Ministry of Education and Sport and, inter alia, the following organisations and/orinstitutions:• UNICEF (a series of projects on the rights of the child; education for development, co-

operation and tolerance; peaceful conflict resolution and peer mediation; psycho-socialsupport to displaced and refugee children and teachers, etc.)

• UNESCO (Peace and Human Rights for Croatian Primary Schools Project; AssociatedSchool Project, etc.)

• UNHCR (technical assistance in promoting human rights and democracy)• Open Society (numerous educational projects aiming at promoting democracy and civil

society; financial support for a newly established Centre for Educational Research andDevelopment)

• Council of Europe (number of projects and activities, including Citizenship Sites andseminars on Human Rights Education and Reconciliation in Eastern Slavonia)

• European Commission (Europe in School, Tempus)• Center for Civic Education from Calabasas, US (Project Citizen and the Constitution -

Foundations of Democracy)• Kulturkontakt from Vienna (project on Conflict Management and Non-violent Conflict

Resolution)

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• German Institute for Distance Learning (project on Education for Democracy)• PRONI Institute from Stockholm (Project on the development of Youth Services in

Eastern Slavonia)

Many projects are also implemented by Croatian NGOs with the support of foreign donors,such as USAID, Open Society - Croatia, Dutch, Norwegian, British, Canadian, Swiss andnumber of other embassies in Croatia, Friederich Ebert Stiftung, Friedrich Neumann Stiftung,Mott Foundation, Olof Palme Center, Winston Foundation for World Peace, WestminsterFoundation for Democracy, etc. Unfortunately, very few educational institutions as such havebenefited from their experiences mainly due to the reluctance on the side of the Ministry ofEducation and Sport to recognise NGOs as partners in the organisation of in-service teachertraining and in regular classes.

3.4.4. Quality assurance

No policy implementation measures for quality assurance in education, in general, and inEDC and MofD, in particular, have been adopted, yet.

3.4.5. Information and communication technologies

According to the Ministry of Education and Sport's document on the Informatisation ofSchool System, a major part of the informatisation of school policy (School NetworkCROSNET) has been implemented. Computers are installed in almost all schools; many ofthem have access to Internet and have developed their web-pages; teachers are trained in ITCtechnologies and a central register and data-bank has been established. Other activities arestill under way, such as the development of the information infrastructure of the Ministry ofEducation and school web network. Among the tasks envisaged for the nearest future is co-operation with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture indeveloping ITC for schools.

3.4.6. Finance

Prior to 2000, a considerable amount of money from the state budget was allocated to theestablishment of the National Human Rights Education Committee and the development ofthe National Human Rights Education Programme, as well as its printing and dissemination toschools. Teacher training in the implementation of the programme was initially carried outwith the assistance of the Human Rights Education Associates, an NGO from the US and theDutch government. During 2000-2001, the Ministry of Education and Sport allocated some1,200,000.00 HRK (equivalent of 155,000 US$) to teacher training seminars in human rightseducation, including training of the counties' human rights education co-ordinators. Minorassistance was provided through other Ministry's programmes, e.g. youth, projects, citizenshipsites, Project on Citizenship and Democracy, etc. The Ministry also contributes to someNGOs- organised seminars by paying their travel expenses, accommodation, etc.

In 1999 some 16,617,000.00 HRK was allocated for the provision of information technologyin primary schools and their libraries while only 2,823,000.00 was ensured for secondaryschools for the same purpose.

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It is mentioned above that minority education programmes are fully financed from the statebudget on the basis of the Ministry of Education and Sport's estimates. Minority cultural andeducational programmes also receive support from the Office of the Government of theRepublic of Croatia for National Minorities. In 2001, the Office is going to spend a total of18,000.000.00 HRK from the state budget for joint minority communities programmes as wellas for the programmes of 28 individual national minority organisations and institutions. Thebeneficiaries of the state's budget are the following institutions (in HRK):

Italians (4 organisations and institutions) 3,912.000.00Czechs(2 organisations and institutions) 1,632.000.00Slovaks (1 organisation) 612.000.00Hungarians (2 organisations) 2,000.000.00Russians and Ukranians (1 organisation) 774.000.00Serbs (5 organisations and institutions) 4,550.000.00Germans and Austrians (3 organisations) 320.000.00Jews (1 institution) 320.000.00Slovenes (1 organisation) 364.000.00Albanians (1 organisation) 364.000.00Bosniaks (2 organisations) 490.000.00Roma/Gipsy (3 organisations) + special programme 1,234.000.00Montenegrins (1 organisation) 364.000.00Macedonians (1 organisation) 364.000.00

Joint programmes for national communities 700.000.00

The Office of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for Non-governmentalOrganisations is another resource for community programmes, some of which are related toEDC and MofD. In April 1999, the Government supported 351 "priority" programmes (out of1145 proposed) of interest to local communities development with a total amount of28.316.522,47 HRK. Programmes in education, human rights and development of civilsociety received 3,658.066.00 HRK (12.92 % of the total amount). The procedures and theresults of the tender were made public in daily press and the National Gazette.

4. Views from the grass roots


Croatia has a long history of grass roots activism. In the 19th century, civil activists wereknown as guardians of national interests. Many were also self-organised or church-organisedinto charity groups that cared for the disabled, the poor and homeless children. Women'sorganisations were offering courses for rural women in reading and writing, hygiene, familyeconomy, cooking and sewing. During communist times, the Croatian civil scene was dividedon ideological grounds. Earlier organisations were either dissolved as a remnant of thebourgeois time or absorbed into an extensive system of organisations and institutionsestablished by the Communist Party apparatus with the task of spreading communist ideas tothe masses. A minor part remained associated with church charity work or turned into illegalcounter-communist organisations dedicated to the task of national liberation; the majority ofthese left the country and became active abroad.

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In the beginning of the 90s communist-led local community organisations disappeared and anew generations of grass roots activists emerged in the context of war. Hundreds of NGOs,community associations, church clubs, youth, neighbourhood and self-help groups wereestablished with the aim of caring for the displaced and refugees. The majority of them wereproviding humanitarian assistance and post-war trauma psychological treatment to thousandsof children and youth that could not cope with the loss of their family members and/or forceddisplacement. Continuous psychological treatment was also provided to a great number ofcivilians and soldiers that had been imprisoned and tortured in camps and later were not ableto reintegrate into normal life as they suffered from multiple psychological disorders. Amongthe most sensitive cases that needed continuous assistance were young women who were keptin camps by force and systematically raped. When they were released, many were in the stateof late pregnancy and needed not only psychological and psychiatric but medical and socialassistance.

Although the idea of combining humanitarian and psychological assistance with training intolerance, peaceful conflict resolution, intercultural understanding and civil responsibilityappeared early on some NGOs agendas, its implementation remained problematic for sometime. Many perceived it as a sign of disrespect to a tormented population that needed time toheal the wounds and rediscover the value of reconciliation. Others opposed such programmesbelieving that they were contrary to national interests in a time of war; this opinion waslargely shared by many of the state-supported media that stigmatised NGOs on differentgrounds. Still some others thought of the programmes as of a form of hidden oppression fromthe side of a pragmatic West that refused to differentiate between the victims and theperpetrators. On the other side, some NGOs thought that they were not sufficiently preparedfor the training of teachers or trainers, believing that training belonged solely to professionalinstitutions. Absurdly enough, these institutions were at the same time literally "frozen" andlargely unaware of the need for intervention programmes to prepare teachers to understandand respond efficiently to changed community needs, as well as to contribute actively torestoring the social fabric.

Notwithstanding, as early as in 1992-93, some NGOs, mainly belonging to the Anti-WarCampaign Network, e.g. Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights from Osijek,organised the first teacher training seminars in peaceful conflict-resolution and tolerance.Among the earliest initiatives was a three-day seminar in education for tolerance organised in1993 by UNESCO and the Croatian Commission for UNESCO that brought together Croatianand Serbian teachers in a school severely damaged by war.

By the end of the war and especially after Croatia regained sovereignty over its occupiedterritories in 1997, grass roots organisations began redefining their priorities with an aim tofostering democratic changes. This resulted in a proliferation of programmes focused on thepreparation of youth, children, teachers, other professionals and ordinary citizens for theiractive role in shaping the future of their societies. These programmes did not merely introducenew topics, e.g. learning about/for non-violent conflict resolution, intercultural sensitivity,civil responsibility, human rights, tolerance etc., but new teaching/learning strategies andmethods, as well, e.g. open discussion, team-work, role-playing, simulation, action-research,brainstorming, active listening, peer-mediation, facilitation, self-help co-operation,networking, lobbing, etc. As more and more teachers were joining non-formal trainingseminars and workshops in this period, they soon became pioneers in applying newknowledge and skills in their classrooms and in sharing these experiences with theircolleagues. In schools headed by rigid principals, these innovations were in the beginning

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carried on almost illegally, by a small group of teachers who dared to challenge traditionaleducational practices and rigid regulations.

It is true that Croatian NGOs were in the beginning highly dependent on foreign assistanceand programmes. They started by learning from the experience of a great number ofinternational and foreign NGOs, as well as from intergovernmental organisations that broughtto Croatia their expertise and enthusiasm for change. Among the most prominent wereUNICEF, UNESCO, UNHCR, Council of Europe, Soros' Foundation, OSCE, EU, WorldBank, USAID, Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International, Catholic Relief, Caritas, Centrefor Civic Education from Calabasas and HREA from the US, Kulturkontakt from Austria,PRONI Institute from Sweden. Croatian activists were combining international approacheswith a unique experience of living in a post-communist and a post-war society. Some of theprogrammes, especially the ones implemented under the auspices of intergovernmentalorganisations, received permission from the Ministry of Education under the term "co-operation" but very few, until recently, were actually recognised as pieces of good practicethat might be used in regular teaching. Unable to alter rigid university curricula, manyuniversity professors and researchers also joined the grass roots scene with an aim to developand/or test their own educational/training models.

It is practically impossible to list all the projects and/or programmes in EDC and MofD orrelated fields that have been implemented in Croatia at the grass roots level throughout thelast decade, let alone describe each and every one of them. Some organisations have beenmore focused on teachers and/or unselected public, some have targeted youth and universitystudents (youth for youth activities), while some others have been more oriented toward pre-school and elementary school students. Thousands of initiatives have been performed byNGOs from Zagreb and the neighbouring towns (Centre for Peace Studies, Small Step, Forumfor the Freedom of Education, Amnesty International - Croatia, European House, EuropeanMovement - Croatia, Europe Youth Club, Step by Step, Croatian Helsinki Committee,Croatian Debate Society, Centre for Psychological Assistance, Sunflower, Centre forWomen's Study, B.a.b.e., Centre for a Direct Human Rights Protection, Magna Carta,Croatian Section of ISHR-IGFM, European Youth Group, European Youth Parliament,Croatian Youth Council, Croatian Legal Centre, Young Lawyers Association, Volunteer’sCentre, Local Democracy Agency from Sisak, Committee for Human Rights from Karlovac,etc.), Central and Eastern Slavonia (Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights fromOsijek, Europe House Slavonski Brod, Proni Centre in Vukovar, Youth Peace Group Danube,Youth Action Group Osijek), Rijeka and the neighbouring towns (School of Peace fromMrkopalj, Homo from Pula, etc.).

Unfortunately, no systemic analysis and evaluation of NGOs educational activities has everbeen made in Croatia. Many important data are already lost due to the lack of interest inassessment of non-formal education among professional researchers, as well as among NGOsthemselves. Nevertheless, some activities carried on by grass roots activists are worthmentioning due to quality, duration and scope of their work:

Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights – a well known non-governmentalorganisation from Osijek, Eastern Slavonia established in 1992 with the aim of assistingteachers, other professionals, youth and ordinary citizens of different ethnic and religiousbackground in productive non-violent conflict management and resolution based on thepromotion of human rights, equality, peace, pluralism and civil society. Two of its majorprojects are: Promotion of democracy and civil society and Education for Peace Building and

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Psychosocial Development of Individuals and Community in Eastern Slavonia and DanubeArea - Creative Workshops. The former focuses on preparing citizens for monitoring electionsand non-partisan campaigns, assisting in non-governmental sector development and cross-border co-operation. The latter project started as early as in 1992. The initial aim was to assistdisplaced teachers and children, including returnees, in overcoming their traumaticexperiences of war by helping them learn the techniques of trauma management and self-awareness. A long-term objective was to promote a culture of peace and non-violence as aprerequisite for a stable civil society. The projects comprises educational and interventionistcomponents. The educational component is focused on the acquisition of new values and newtechniques. It is implemented through workshops and seminars organised continuously everyweek. The topics include: communication skills, expression of emotions, active listening,human rights protection, co-operation strategies, development of self-respect and self-confidence, decrease in prejudices and the increase in tolerance. After a basic course,participants are introduced to more complex issues, like: stress trauma rehabilitation, realitytherapy, alternatives to violence, mediation and conflict resolution, religious tolerance andecology. The interventionist component focuses on direct psychological assistance throughgroup work and individual therapy. The beneficiaries of the project are teachers, peaceactivists, children, young people, women and members of religious communities. Theirtraining is organised in three groups: highly experienced (multipliers), less experienced, andteachers living in previously occupied areas. Recently, the Centre has developed a programmein civil education for the Osijek University (Biology and Chemistry Department). Its activitiesare now recognised by the Ministry of Education and Sport as ones that "contribute to therealisation of national educational objectives". Its programmes are integrated into the NationalCatalogue of Teacher Training Seminars.

Small Step - a non-governmental organisation from Zagreb well known for its pioneer work intraining teachers in peaceful conflict resolution and peer-mediation since the beginning of the90s. From 1995- 2000 it carried out a UNICEF sponsored project on Peaceful Problem Solving,Youth Peer Mediation and Peer Education in Schools that encompassed over 50 primary schoolswith a post-war returnee student population throughout Croatia, including Vuklovar, BorovoSelo, Osijek, Dalj, Knin, Topusko, Vojnić, Glina, Karlovac, Zagreb – Kozari Bok. The main aimof the project was to develop a programme for the "multiplication of multipliers", i.e. for thetraining of teachers, school pedagogues and psychologists in pro-active and non-violent conflictresolution techniques combined with post-trauma relieving strategies in order to prepare them tospread their training knowledge and skills to their students of different ethnic, religious andsocio-economic background, as well as to other teachers and parents. In all, over 3,000 studentswere involved in non-violent conflict-resolution and peer-mediation programme conducted inschools as interactive workshops, either as an extra-curricular activity or as part of regular schoolsubjects. The implementation of the programme was monitored and evaluated and the resultswere widely disseminated. The programme has been recognised by the Ministry of Education:trained teachers receive certificates from the Ministry's Institute for the Advancement ofSchooling and Small Step's seminars are incorporated into the National Catalogue of TeacherTraining Seminars issued by the Ministry annually. It is now expected that the programme onnon-violence and peer-mediation will soon receive the status of an extracurricular programme.

Forum for the Freedom of Education - a non-profit, non-governmental organisationestablished in 1992 in Zagreb by a group of teachers and researchers in education dedicated todeveloping an open and pluralist education system, professional and school autonomy, dignityof students and teachers, as well as quality of education. Forum has organised a number ofround tables and discussions on strategic educational issues, including policy-making,

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educational reform, pluralism in education, educational co-operation among the neighbouringcountries etc. In 1997, the organisation initiated a research project on the content analysis ofCroatian history textbooks for primary and secondary schools which produced a number ofvaluable proposals for change. The analysis of history textbooks is now extended to includetextbooks in literature, geography and education for democracy in Croatia, Slovenia andBosnia and Herzegovina. The Power to Graffiti programme was realised in 2000 in co-operation with the Faculty of Political Sciences. It consists of 10 video-units, each dealingwith a different issue: politics, state, power, elections, citizens, self-management, public,international relations, and the world and Croatian state. The material is meant to be used insecondary schools. Two more projects have attracted great attention among teachers. Readingand Writing for Critical Thinking is by origin an American programme translated and adaptedfor Croatian needs. It consists of a series of seminars aiming at developing teachers'competencies for promoting creative thinking and democratic relations among their studentsthrough the use of interactive teaching methods. Street Law is a world famous educationalprogram that focuses on developing legal and civil literacy among young people with the aimof empowering them for an active and responsible role in shaping the future of their societies.Through interactive methods, (case-analysis, role-play, simulation, etc.) they learn basicconcepts and skills of participation, dialogue, discussion and negotiation based on legalstandards and procedures. The Ministry of Education and Sport has included one of theForum’s programmes in the National Catalogue of Teacher Training Seminars, which meansthat upon completion of the seminar teachers receive the Ministry's official certificate, validfor their professional promotion. Centre for Peace Studies - a non-governmental and non-formal training institution fromZagreb known for its well-organised interdisciplinary courses. It offers two majorprogrammes attended by citizens of different ages, professions, educational status and ethnicbackground. The Peace Studies annual program is focused on promoting peace, human rightsand civil society. Upon the revision of the programme, during the 2000/2001 academic year,the following 13 courses are now offered with a total of 212 hours per year: Introduction toPeace Studies; The Art of Non-violence; Understanding Violence; Conflict Management;Human Rights – A Challenge for Change; Civil Politics; Women’s Culture of Resistance:Mythologies, Metaphors and Activism; Long-term Non-violence; Technology andCommunication; Peace Building; Experiential Learning; Environment Protection andSustainable Development; National Identities; and Genders Relations. The Peace BuildingProgram is chiefly organised for citizens living outside the capital. It consists of 4 sub-programs: MIRamiDA ("Yes-for-Peace Programme") Basic (key concepts in the field);Young MIRamiDa (courses developed for youth and youth activists); MIRamiDa Plus(advanced courses organised for participants from Croatia and the neighbouring countries);and MIRamiDA Partnership (designed for members of political parties and trade unions at thelocal level as a means of civil society, human right and gender awareness raising). Apart fromthese programmes, two additional activities are carried on in the Centre: a Peace Library,open to the public and the Public Extra Program covering issues such as: war crimes,violence and terrorism in Western Europe, conflict transformation in primary schools,introduction to quality science, integrative psychotherapy.. In the year 2000, more then 250participants were involved in major education programs and an additional 300 took part inpublic discussions. The programmes are now well received by society and the media, as wellas by teachers. Nevertheless, these programmes have not yet been officially recognised as anintegral part of adult education and/or lifelong learning by the Ministry of Education.

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The Peace and Human Rights for Croatian Primary Schools Project was initiated in 1997under the auspices of UNESCO, the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of theRepublic of Croatia and the Croatian Commission for UNESCO with the aim of developing acomprehensive approach to peace and human rights education for Croatian primary schools. Itwas carried out by an independent group of researchers from the University of Zagreb,working in close co-operation with teachers and peace/human rights activists from Croatiaand abroad. In 1998 the conceptual framework for human rights education (policy paper) anda 1-4 grades programme developed in the project were adopted by the National Human RightsEducation Committee as the basis for a comprehensive K-12 National Human RightsEducation Programme. The project was carried out in two phases. As well as a Draft PolicyPaper, the following learning/teaching and reference materials for teachers and students wereprepared in the project: a) Teachers’ Manual; b) two Pupils’ Textbooks (for grades 1&2 and3&4); c) Analysis of Programmes in the World; d) Field Research Report; e) InterdisciplinaryDictionary; f) International and National Standard-setting Documents; g) AnnotatedBibliography h) International Directory, and i) the Report from the International Symposium"Common Goals – Varieties of Approaches: Promotion of Human Rights, Peace andDemocratic Citizenship Through Education". The materials have been permanently used inteacher training seminars organised by the Ministry of Education and Sport. Part of them isalready published and disseminated to 500 primary schools, faculty libraries and individualresearchers free of charge. The continuation of the project is going to be ensured through theCentre for Research, Training and Documentation in Human Rights and DemocraticCitizenship, which will soon be put in operation at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Universityof Zagreb.

4.2. Chosen approach to data gathering

In order to gather information on the state of EDC and MofD policy in Croatia for the purposeof the Stocktaking Research, a one-day focus group discussion was organised at theUniversity of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Education on 17 June 2001. Thefocus group approach was chosen to overcome the obstacles of time and financial resourcesand to maximise the results of the pilot-type of study, in terms of the identification of keyissues in EDC/MofD policy development and implementation. The organisations invitedrepresent various niches in the EDC/MofD sector: policy-making, practice, administration andmanagement, dissemination of information etc. Each of them has specific experiences andexpertise and each occupies specific positions in the educational establishment but all areequally important for the development & implementation of EDC and MofD policies andprogrammes in the country. The group consisted of 22 representatives of the followingorganisations and/or institutions:• grass roots organisations (Amnesty International - Croatia; Centre for Peace, Non-

violence and Human Rights, Osijek; Centre for Peace Studies, Zagreb; Forum for theFreedom of Education, Zagreb)

• EDC Citizenship Sites in Croatia (Labin, Našice, Varaždin, Zagreb) • teachers (from pre-school to the university)• youth organisations (European Youth Club)• central government (Ministry of Education)• county (local) government (Zagreb, Vukovar)• teachers' trade union ("Preporod")• journalists reporting on education ("Školske novine", "Novi list", "Večernji list")

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Two weeks prior to the meeting all selected organisations were contacted by phone, and aweek before each received an invitation letter with a short description of the CoE's EDCproject, the objectives of the Stocktaking Research and the key questions on EDC and MofDfor discussion: 1) national policy 2) implementation strategies3) obstacles

An additional list with more detailed questions was distributed at the meeting. The purpose ofthe list was to serve as a loose agenda for the discussion. It contained the following issues:• Does the Government have a clear policy for democratic development of Croatian

society? What values/principles/priorities are dominant?

• Is EDC and MofD an integral part of Croatian educational policy? Who were the partnersin developing the policy?

• How well are different segments of education (schools, universities, local administration,NGOs, youth associations, teacher's trade union, media, church, minority organisations,etc.) informed on EDC and MofD policy?

• Is EDC and MofD policy followed by realistic implementation measures? Whatimplementation agents are envisaged? Does the implementation scheme promote co-operation and partnership between formal and non-formal/grass roots sectors?

• What existing grass-roots EDC and MofD programmes and practices support theimplementation of the policy?

• What obstacles do the grass roots organisations face when trying to be part of theimplementation scheme? What are the specific obstacles that are encountered by schoolsand teachers?

• How can the obstacles to EDC and MofD policy implementation be resolved?

4.3. Findings

General Development Policy

The discussion on the policy on democratic development of Croatian society focused on theStrategy for Development of Croatia in 21st Century. Since the meeting took place prior tothe official adoption of the document, very few participants were familiar with its content.They said they expected it to be congruent with the promises given at the January 2000elections by the parties now in power. Among the promises that were most often stressed bythe participants were: strengthening the rule of law and responsibility/accountability at alllevels; promoting better living conditions; recovery of economy based on production and noton import policy; weakening of the power of the state and public administration over thecitizen; greater transparency in decision-making; promoting equality, pluralism and "a societythat cares for its members"; reducing the privileges of the "new elite" and speeding up thecharges against all those that have illegally benefited from privatisation; strengtheningsolidarity instead of competition until the policy of equal opportunity could fully beimplemented, etc. Many participants mentioned discontinuity as the key problem in thedevelopment of Croatian society. As one of them put it: "Every second generation is forced to

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start from the beginning. Every 20-30 years we are made to believe in new political rhetoric,accept new concepts and ideas on who we as individuals are and how we should behave.People are sick of being treated as infantile creatures that need to be controlled 'from abovefor their own sake'. We need to think of our own future and the future of our families incontinuous terms, be free from arbitrariness and oppression and be able to meet challengeswith expectations and not with fear."

One line of thought permeating the discussion on the macro-society development policy wasrelated to the permanence of a gap between policies and their implementation throughoutCroatian recent history. Some participants evaluated policy documents as "too many paperslacking rational implementation strategies and measures as well as necessary political will".One participant argued that "the communist technology of governing and managing is stillaround us", that it is still deeply rooted in our everyday practice and that we failed in devisingand implementing efficient democratic strategies to replace older ones. "This is not aCroatian specificum. It seems that the world knows very little on how the transition should beled to ensure the desired end." A few participants explained the misbalance between policyand practice in terms of "inconsistent policy priorities, weak implementation policy, ad hocimplementation measures and no standards for quality assessment, all of which result involuntary practice accompanied with the lack of responsibility at all levels."

EDC and MofD policy

While talking about EDC and MofD policies and its implementation, some of the participantssaid that, prior to the meeting and the materials received for the discussion, they had had avague idea of the meaning of the terms and stated that they were not sure whether it shouldhave been understood:• in a broader sense, as a theoretical concept covering all educational policies and

practices aiming at preparing young people and adults for their active and responsiblerole in strengthening democracy and civil society, i.e. as a term that best explains today'suniversal striving for a better (more emancipated and more empowered) position ofcitizens in relation to their governments not specifically tied to any regional or nationalpolicy;

• in a narrow sense, as a policy concept that primarily depends on a government's visionabout what should be done in the society to further democratic processes for which theprovisions are or are not guaranteed, either as a reflection of a broader international orregional policies or as the continuation of a classical policy concept of citizenshipeducation in which the main objective of educational action is seen in terms of citizens'loyalty to a democratic state; or

• in an even narrower sense, as a practical concept that develops mainly "from thebottom", from an active process of self-realisation/self-reproduction of a knowledgeable,skilful and self-motivated citizen, i.e. the process that reflects "a genuine civic ideology"and, as such, has an in-built power not merely to challenge but to change the statestructure, organisation and policies in the course of time.

A few participants had problems in linking EDC and MofD concepts with Europeaneducation policy, only one was fully informed about the conclusions of the Krakow meetingand the majority lacked information on the place of these concepts in the Stability Pact forSEE/Enhanced Graz Process educational scheme.

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The majority of them, while discussing EDC and MofD issues, referred to the NationalHuman Rights Education Programme, as well as to their own activities in schools (e.g. therepresentatives of the Croatian citizenship sites) or to the grass roots practices in general (e.g.representatives of NGOs) and had no problems in adopting the term as a label for their ownpractices.

In the discussion on the National Human Rights Education Programme and its relation toEDC and MofD the following interesting findings appeared:• The majority of participants, from both formal and grass roots level education sectors,

were not sure whether the implementation of the programme was obligatory for schoolsand in what way. They said that they had problems in the proper reading of the 1999national Plan and Programme for Primary Schools, where it is officially stated that theHuman Rights Education and Democratic Citizenship Education Programme is an integralpart of elementary school curricula and that it may be implemented either cross-curricularly, as an optional subject or as an extra-curricular school activity. The mainreason for such misunderstanding they see, not only in the fact that an implementationpolicy and measures do not accompany the integration of the programme into formaleducational system, but also in the fact that school principals and teachers feeluncomfortable about implementing it without proper preparation and, therefore, ratherstick to the "old ways of teaching".

• A few of the participants from the grass roots level stated that, although co-operation andpartnership between schools and NGOs is clearly envisaged by the National HumanRights Education Programme, "everything is still in a pilot phase" due to "a history ofsegregation, mistrust, avoidance and stereotyping on both sides".

• Participants were unaware of the consultation which the National Human RightsCommittee had had with number of NGOs in Croatia and abroad in the final phase ofdevelopment of the National Human Rights Education Programme. Very few were fullyfamiliar with its principles and the content, and even less had thought of how to integratetheir own practices into the programme implementation scheme.

When asked to compare their present position to the one in the last decade all participantsagreed that the situation has improved for the non-governmental sector. The government doesnot discriminate against grass roots organisations, teachers feel more encouraged and free toparticipate in their programmes, schools are more open to innovations that came from the"bottom", in some communities local government have established partnership with NGOsetc. Although these changes are significant, they are only "the tip of the iceberg". One of thegrass roots representatives said that prior to 2000, their position was much clearer than it isnow. Before the last parliamentary elections NGOs were perceived by the government as anopposition and treated as an enemy or simply ignored. The lack of communication with thegovernment structure actually made NGOs stronger, with clearly defined priorities. The newsituation makes them hesitant in deciding what should be done. The importance of co-operation between governmental and non-governmental sectors is officially recognised, butno important improvement has yet been reached, at least not in terms of "recognising NGOsas partners in decision-making instead of seeing them as mere aid receivers". Therelationship is well described by one of the participants: "We are all friends and partnersnow but, unfortunately, we do not benefit from such partnership and even worse is thatneither do they benefit from us." Co-operation is still understood in one-sided terms. E.g.,"The Ministry of Education may provide some assistance to a grass roots project but it is

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seldom interested in its outcomes, whether the project is successful and whether its resultsmay be implemented elsewhere". Some NGOs have already accepted this relation scheme anddare not question the effect it has on their own position.

Existing projects, programmes and activities that support the implementation of EDC andMofD

Non-governmental organisations

The representatives of the grass roots sector described several projects and programmes thatmay be used as examples of good practice in integrating EDC and MofD policies into formaland non-formal curricula, as well as in youth training programmes. Among them are theprojects/programmes of Amnesty International - Croatia (programs in human rights awarenessraising, including the dissemination of the "First Step Manual"; active approaches in humanrights education; competition in children drawings); Centre for Peace, Non-violence andHuman Rights (programmes in human rights, non-violence, intercultural understanding, civilparticipation, etc.); Forum for the Freedom of Education (development of critical thinkingskills for civil participation, legal literacy); Centre for Peace Studies (adult educationprogrammes in non-violent conflict resolution, non-discrimination and equality etc.), SmallStep (peer mediation in non-violent conflict resolution and human rights education), EuropeYouth Club Programmes (learning active and facilitative civil strategies), Centre for a DirectHuman Rights Protection (dissemination of valuable learning materials), etc. They stressedtheir experience in non-formal programme development, the use of active training andlearning methods, focus on individualised approaches, flexibility of topics; variety ofmaterials used in training, creating non-authoritarian and responsive educational/learningatmosphere, flexibility in teacher-student relations, skills in co-operation and negotiation withdifferent actors at local, national and international levels, experience in lobbing, campaigningand networking that is highly important in a decentralised system of education.

Many schools, e.g. in Eastern Slavonia have recognised the value of co-operation with NGOs’programs for quality changes in education and support their staff to attend the events. Theyalso expect these teachers to bring innovations into their schools and spread their knowledgeand skills among their colleagues and school administration in order to make the institutionmore open to the needs of their students and the community as a whole.

The representative of the youth organisations highlighted their experience in youth peertraining, developing networks on national basis, lobbing, devising non-formal youthprogrammes in intercultural learning, promotion of human rights and European identity,producing and disseminating active learning materials throughout Croatia.

Citizenship sites

The representatives of Croatian citizenship sites described their experiences in introducingEDC and MofD issues in regular secondary school programmes, their knowledge of obstaclesderiving from the lack of support inside and outside the school as well as of the strategies andmeans of removing the obstacles. The representatives of the Varazdin site described how theymanaged to meander among internal obstacles to integrate EDC in their programmes. ("Themain issue is not of having the guts to challenge the Ministry but to change school practicewhen you encounter hostility and opposition from the side of your colleagues because you'give too much freedom to students'. In such a situation you may either give up or develop a

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step-by-step strategy for school change. EDC is not a matter of one class. It effects the schoolas a whole once it is introduced in a single classroom. One needs to be aware of its dynamicpotentials and be prepared for confrontation. The strategy should respect the existing schoolstructures and approaches, as well as internal power relations and involve practice ofpermanent lobbying.") Teachers involved in the EDC project begin by empowering studentsto cope with the authoritarianism of the school and individual teachers. ("Students need toknow how authoritarian structures and persons function and be equipped with skills tochange it for the benefit of all.") Their experience in giving students more space to expresstheir opinions about school practice is most valuable. ("This is a difficult and responsibleprocess. If EDC is practised solely at the level of a game or 'imagine it' discussions, studentssoon become disinterested, as EDC is then only 'another school task' alienated from realproblems. On the other side, if they learn how to participate and express their opinion thequestion remains on what to do with their knowledge. In order to be convincing schoolsshould create real opportunities for students to use their civil knowledge and skills inreforming school organisation and curricula. School authorities should also open theinstitution in order to enable their students to co-operate with local forces in changing thecommunity as a whole."). The results of the Varazdin site are outstanding: "Teachers paymore attention to their own words and behaviour towards students. Everybody is aware thathuman rights watch is at work concerning fair treatment and the fulfilment of individualresponsibility. Both teachers and students are more open to the opinions of the other side.This has created an atmosphere of mutual care, support and partnership that begins toinfluence the local community. But authoritarian structures are still there and much moreremains to be done" An important aspect of EDC and MofD in school, according to theVarazdin site is the sensitisation to the perception of the Other. One valuable example of howthis might be achieved has been presented in school newspapers issued in the course of theproject implementation. Instead of making an interview with school principal or teachers onschool issues, they had an interview with a female school cleaner to let the "established"know what the representative of the "unheard school voices" has to say about the role of theschool, educational changes, school discipline, etc.

The changes that the EDC project brought to school were also illustrated by the representativeof the Zagreb Site. She reported on the development of communication between teachers,students and school administration: "When school violence was introduced as the key topic inthe project, many teachers refused to join in explaining that there is nothing to be discussedsince the school has no such problems, average students' scores are high, etc. In the end, thestudents' preference was respected and the programme on dealing with violence in schoolelaborated. Its implementation brought to the surface many hidden conflicts permeatingschool daily practice (verbal sexism, discrimination against girls in grading school success,etc.). Teachers started discussing their behaviour and became more concerned aboutstudents' needs." An EDC dimension has been gradually introduced in all programmes andsoon many teachers began expressed their interest in more adequate in-service training.

The representative of the Labin site spoke of the gradual strengthening of co-operationbetween the school and the local government and of the importance of support from the localmedia and parents. ("Individual teacher initiative is essential but it can only be realised ifthere is financial, professional, administrative and moral support from the local governmentand the community. Local media are important partners as they convey the ideas andpractices developed by the site to the public creating a climate of opinion in favour of thesite's activities.") She stressed that local community support is the prime prerequisite for anychange in the organisation of schools and curricula and that such support depends on mutual

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recognition of rights and responsibilities. She also pointed out the need for enhancing studentautonomy through the students' council, the body that the school established in the course ofthe citizenship site project prior to the new law on secondary schooling as an outcome of goodco-operation at the local level. ("Through participation in decision making students becomeresponsible not only for their own success but for the quality of school life, schoolenvironment etc.")

Seminars in the implementation of the National Human Rights Programme

Since 1999, the Institute for the Advancement of Schooling of the Ministry of Education andSport has been organising regional teachers in-service training seminars in the implementationof the National Human Rights Education Programme, in co-operation with universityprofessors and some local NGOs. At the beginning of 2001 a group of experienced pre-school, primary and secondary school teachers joined the group of trainers. The trend is toexpand the number of teacher multipliers in the future. The results of evaluationaccompanying each seminar show that most teachers benefit from lectures, workshops anddiscussions on human rights education, especially from those led by their colleagues whoshare their experiences with them in incorporating new issues and methods into specificcourses. Participation in seminars has helped them "better understand the key concepts andskills their students should acquire". They also say "the exchange of experience and furthernon-formal networking among them is the most valuable outcome of the seminars as it helpthem feel more comfortable in altering their classroom practice and in developing moreholistic approach to assessment and evaluation of their students' outcomes". Notwithstanding,the number of teachers trained in the implementation of the programme is still very small andthe gap between them and the others should be bridged soon to remove the obstacles to theprogramme implementation.

Individual teachers' initiatives

The representative of pre-school organisations spoke of a self-help strategy that has beendeveloped among many of them as a means of compensating for the financial and structuralshortcomings of the pre-school sector, as well as of their unfavourable professional position(they are still trained in two-year programmes with no connection to higher levels ofeducation). They call it "in-house training", in which they perform role-play, simulation,brainstorming etc. as a form of in-service training. Many pre-school teachers and theirinstitutions are linked through informal networks for dissemination of good practice andteaching/learning materials. Many have established strong partnership with parents (the"Open Door Programme), private sector and local administration. The representative said thatthe Ministry assists them in in-service training but that the number of seminars is far fromenough. Some pre-school institutions are focused on communication and participation issuesand engaged in the collection and production of learning materials in human rights and EDCboth by teachers and children. The Human Rights Picture Book developed by children in oneZagreb kindergarten has been disseminated to other institutions.

Obstacles

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A major part of the discussion focused on the obstacles and possibilities for introducing EDCand MofD in education, in general, and in schools, in particular. The comments on obstaclesfall into two categories:

Structural/institutional barriers

• The conception of education – a new, broader and integrative concept of education has notyet been introduced (policy, theory, practice). Education is still understood by many interms of schooling and schooling in terms of expenditures, not of investment. Students arestill mainly perceived as knowledge-receivers and teachers as knowledge-givers.Academic learning is largely equated with learning of facts derived from a specificdiscipline, while the acquisition of skills is considered inferior and equated withvocational and technical training. Promotion of education for active and responsiblecitizenship is handicapped by a widely shared opinion that "politics has no place in theclassroom" and that "children should learn not to confront but to obey".

• Educational policy - There is the lack of a rational, comprehensive, well-balanced andconsistent educational policy with clearly stated priorities in the context of lifelonglearning, economic well-being, promotion of human rights and freedoms, equality andpluralism, the rule of law, social cohesion and inclusion. ("It is still unclear topractitioners and probably to policy-makers either, what personal and social goalsshould be achieved by education. Educational priorities are easily and frequentlychanged dependent on 'daily politics' with no necessary explanation.")

• Implementation strategy - An efficient and consistent implementation strategy with clearlydefined measures and mechanisms for ensuring educational goals (plan of action) is non-existent. This inevitably leads to voluntarism and ad hoc solutions in decision-making atall levels and produces insecurity among practitioners as to what and how educationaltasks should be fulfilled. ("Our educational system is a 'patchwork' of hundreds ofdisconnected or loosely connected regulations, initiatives, practices. There is the need foran urgent balancing of its parts.")

• Assessment and evaluation procedures - Contrary to centralist policy-making andcurricula development, assessment and evaluation procedures are extremely decentralised.The system is based on the control of input (explicit statement of educational content)while its output (the quality of students' learning) is left solely to teachers. Quality controlpolicy has not been developed either for a particular educational level or for the system asa whole and there are no national standards of educational achievement to enable areliable comparison of students' development.

• Legislative - Laws on education are drafted and adopted separately and they do notprovide the necessary legal basis for the implementation of a life-long learningperspective. Besides, they are still school-oriented and leave little space for therecognition of students and local community development needs. ("Educationallegislative is inconsistent with the modernisation of education. Its thorough revision andreform is needed with a view to fully integrate the system so as to ensure horizontal andvertical mobility.")

• Structure, organisation and management - The educational sector has seriousorganisational and structural problems: a low level of organisational capacity, frequentorganisational and structural changes, especially at the central government, rarely basedon rational and pragmatic criteria. The style of management is rather authoritarian and

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non-participative. ("It is sometimes hard to grasp who is responsible for what in theadministration.")

• Decentralisation - Recently initiated process of decentralisation in education by the lawson primary and secondary schooling has been received with criticism. Many think that thechanges came suddenly and that neither local administration nor schools have beenadequately prepared to benefit from decentralisation. ("Decentralisation may be a blessingas well as an obstacle to democratic changes in education. It is positive in a sense that itmakes the school principal more directly responsible for a 'living organism of the school'.On the other side, if efficient control mechanisms are not provided by the centralgovernment, democratisation of a system still characterised by an authoritarian andcentralised tradition, with scarce resources to promote the changes and with a devaluedstatus in the society, may halt the development of local community human resources andstrengthen nepotism and local power structure.") Some think that decentralisation mayactually widen the in-state centre-periphery gap and lead to new waves of brain-drain. "Ifquality control mechanisms and affirmative measures for underdeveloped communities donot accompany decentralisation it may lead to the reduction of choice in education,strengthen negative selection in the employment of teachers, weaken teachers'responsibility and foster new forms of dependency and inequality at the local level. In theend, this may trigger brain-drain and leave local community with no human andprofessional resources for its social and economic restructuring and development."

• Curricula and textbooks - Educational objectives and contents are determined by theMinistry for each school subject in the national Plan and Programme for Primary and forSecondary Schools. The programme is still facts-oriented instead of skill-oriented andoverload with unnecessary information and so are the textbooks. ("Some textbooks aremere reflection of a scientific discipline. Their authors turn the school subjects into mini-science. General criteria for textbook quality have not been established. Its adoption bythe Ministry is based on the opinion provided by an expert commission also established bythe Ministry. The nomination of the commission lacks clear criteria and procedure."). Nopolicy on the implementation of EDC and MofD dimensions in school curricula has beenmade. Human rights education is officially part of the national Programme for PrimarySchools but many teachers still do not know whether the integration of human rightseducation in their curricula is obligatory.

• School climate - Relations between teachers and students are still predominantly formaland authoritarian. Students are more often punished than encouraged for their initiatives.Competitiveness is high while co-operation and solidarity low, social distance andexclusion of some students is rarely discussed in the classroom. Issues of classroom andschool ethos are mostly neglected ("Parents dare not comment on, or criticise openlyschool and teachers' work as they believe it might have negative consequences on theirchildren's grades.")

• Pre-service and in-service teacher preparation - Teacher education is more content-oriented and less skill and method-oriented. Many teachers still lack competencies topromote active, participative and co-operative learning, team-work, non-violent conflictresolution, critical and argumentative thinking, action-research, social and interculturalsensitivity, peer-mediation, multiple and global perspective, etc. Their perception ofeducation and international standards underlying democratic changes is still fragmentedand non-inclusive. ("Being unprepared for the implementation of human rights education,EDC and related programmes, teacher tend to ignore their importance and label them'new Marxism' or 'new ideology'.")

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• Preparation of administration - Central and local administration in education are notadequately prepared to resume their roles in democratic changes. They are stillpredominantly authoritarian, highly bureaucratic and far from being a genuine publicservice. ("School inspectors are the most rigid part of the system. They assess the schoolon the basis of its strict implementation of the national plans and programmes. Teachersregularly fill in school documentation as required but rarely teach 'by the book' in theclassroom. It is pity that they dare not show their actual achievements.")

• Horizontal and vertical in-government co-operation - Co-operation inside and betweendifferent sectors of the government is either non-existent or weak.

• School - community relations - Many schools still operate in isolation from thecommunity and lack partnership relations with parents and local actors ("Focus ondescriptive knowledge, neglect of know-how competencies, distance from other sectorsand civil society are the most salient causes of the school's failure in preparing youngpeople for responsible and active citizenship.")

• Teacher - grass roots activist relations - The relation of teachers and grass roots activistsis ambiguous. The former are often too much reluctant in entrusting the school tasks to'non-professionals' while the latter think that their expertise in active approaches surpassesthat of teachers. ("Open school doors are not enough. The scope of responsibility ofprofessional teachers and grass roots activists should be clearly defined and respected ineveryday school practice. This presupposes efficient monitoring and quality assessmentmeasures and procedures in order to save the school from too much formalism and toomuch improvisation. Mutual contribution to democratic changes of both sides depends notonly on the share of expert knowledge and skills but on exchange of monitoring andassessment.")

• Professional associations - Professional associations are underdeveloped, disintegratedand marginalised. Their voice is rarely heard in matters of policy and curriculumdevelopment. ("We have 33 professional associations on paper in the country and veryfew in action.")

• Dissemination and exchange of information - Sharing of information is still unsatisfactoryat all levels. The Ministry does not have an efficient system of internal and externalinformation exchange. The central library for administration has been dissolved and thenew data bank is not yet in operation. The Ministry staff that attend internationalconferences often have no clear mandate on their role and, thus, rarely spread informationto the schools on a larger scale ("Every time when the issue of rationalisation ofadministration is raised it is solved by dismissing those positions that are indispensablefor quality work. It is not the profession which decides what should be done but thepoliticians.")

• International co-operation - The benefits of international co-operation and exchange arenot distributed and shared equally. Some schools are over-burdened with dozens ofinternational projects and programmes while the others are left short. In addition, theirwork and results have not been adequately monitored by the central government, rewardedand reported widely except for schools having well-developed web-sites. ("The selectionof schools for such projects by the Ministry following bilateral and multilateralagreements is not transparent enough. Some schools and teachers are favoured at theexpense of others.")

• Finance - There is a significant misbalance in state expenditures for education whencompared to other sectors of society. Financial support of both central and local

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governments for programme innovations (e.g. human rights education, EDC, interculturaleducation, etc) and project-oriented work is extremely low and de-stimulating. ("Muchdepends on the individual teacher and her/his motivation to introduce new concepts andmethods in the classroom often at the expense of his/her spare time and energy. Rewardswere non-existent before and now they are, if at all, minimal.")

• School facilities - Most schools lack space and necessary facilities for active and team-learning, project-work, workshops, etc. Classroom furniture and arrangement oftensupports frontal teaching ("Pupils still sit in benches for two lined up in rows and look atthe back of their peers. One can not expect co-operation and team-work in suchenvironment.").

• Grass roots level - Grass roots level activities lack sustainability, co-operation andtransparency ("Many NGOs behave competitively. Generally speaking, the civil sectorneeds more co-operation and solidarity. Grass roots organisations still fail to see eachother as equally important parts of a civil support system and there is the tendency of self-ghettoisation among some of them.")

• Media coverage - Except for 'Skolske novine', the only newspaper specialised foreducation, low media interest in education and low level of journalist preparation forreporting on educational issues, in general, and on human rights education, EDC andMofD, in particular, is critical. Education identity in the media is blurred. It is sometimestreated as part of the culture rubric, sometimes in the context of internal politics and moreoften in the black chronicles. The need to produce sensations becomes far more importantthan the presentation of good practice or a systemic analysis of educational policy and itsimplementation. Media are still authority-dependent and politicians/government-centred.Most are short of journalists who have enough expertise to report systematically andcritically on educational changes (e.g. decentralisation). Public opinion on education ismainly created through the interviews with high executives. Central media ignore grassroots activities as well as schools’ and teachers’ work. ("Journalists are not prepared foreducational issues during their study. They learn from personal experience. Their focusdepends on the editor's decision. One day they are sent to write about textbooks andtomorrow they are assigned the task of reporting about traffic problems or aboutshortcomings in milk-industry. One must be a genius to cover all that accurately. And, yet,the media have a great influence on public opinion on education in our country. Theymight as well be responsible for the fact that the potentials of education for socialrestructuring and development are still undervalued by the majority.")

Psychological barriers:

• Biases against grass roots level organisation - Misunderstanding and devaluation of therole of grass roots organisations in democratic change is still shared by many in schools,government, public administration and media. ("When we began to expand our activitiesin the region we were suddenly portrayed by local political leaders and media as'homosexuals', 'communists', 'anti-patriots', 'political opposition', 'menace to nationalcause', etc. Even now, many citizens think of us as of dilettantes and amateurs."). Suchopinions are detrimental for co-operation and they prevent many NGOs from benefitingfrom the resources allocated to school by the central government for in-service teachertraining. ("When I wanted to put a poster of our organisation inside one faculty I first hadto ask the dean. He refused it telling me that it was a political act he could not allow.")Despite the government document aiming at promoting co-operation with NGO sector,

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things are not well advanced in practice. Recognition of NGOs by schools largely dependson the permissiveness of school principals and this may not be based on rational criteria atall. ("The arbitrariness is the characteristics of those school principals that have noprevious experiences with grass roots activities. They still believe that their main functionis to be obedient to 'those from above' while controlling 'those from below'.)

• Self-stereotyping and self-devaluation among grass roots activists - Grass roots activistssometimes devalue their own work, believing that civil initiatives are primarily locallybounded and that they lack potential for promoting social changes at the macro level.

• Devaluation of non-formal training in general - Teachers who think of their profession interms of fixed knowledge-delivery, impersonal teacher-student relations and disciplinedlearning tend to devalue non-formal training for its loose forms and strategies ("Whenasked what they actually do in the workshops some teachers respond: 'Well, nothingimportant. We play a bit, have lot of fun and jump from one topic to the other'.")

• Fear of de-professionalisation in education - Educators fear that an open school systemmay lead to de-professionalisation of schooling and education, jeopardise their positionand lessen their authority among the students. ("Some teachers feel uneasy when externalpartners and the public are more directly involved in education, when they can notcontrol the learning process.")

• Fear of innovations - Some teachers and school principals feel fear of innovations in theirpractice, especially in relation to new methods and strategies for teaching and learning,such as interactive, co-operative and participative styles, team-work, critical analysis, etc.("Teachers and students running and/or participating in workshops on non-violentconflict resolution, role-playing, simulation, etc. tend to be perceived as black sheep bytheir colleagues in the school.")

• Stereotypes on Eastern and Western Europe - Referring to international and regional co-operation and exchange, many educators and school principals tend to refuse to establishco-operation with schools from the Southeast Europe and try very hard to become part ofsome Western school network. ("Co-operation with underdeveloped European countriesis seen as a sign of failure and the least challenging. After having been under Westerninfluences in education for decades, it is now difficult to switch to East Europeanexperiences and see them as valuable resources for learning and change. The 'authority-knows-better' attitude does not apply for Eastern Europe. This should be changed soon aswe share a lot.").

Possibilities in resolving the obstacles

Besides the general provisions, the participants of the meeting spoke of the followingpossibilities for resolving the obstacles to EDC and MofD implementation:

- develop a comprehensive implementation strategy for the National Human Rights EducationProgramme with clear links to EDC and MofD at all levels and in all forms of education("Human rights education should not be introduced solely as specific school subject; it mustremain holistic and cross-curricular with strong EDC and MofD dimensions in order tostrengthen students' dignity and promote his/her civil potentials.")

- put more emphasis on EDC and MofD at upper primary and secondary education level aswell as in religious classes;

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- develop standard assessment measures and procedures in human rights education, includingEDC and MofD dimensions, in order to use the results for further developments in the field;

- strengthen co-operation in decision making at the local level in line with the new laws onprimary and secondary schooling that recognise parents and the local community as schoolpartners in decision-making ("Such co-operation is extremely important. It enables all sidesin the process to learn about democratic rules and procedures and to accept responsibility foreducational outcomes.");

- establish intensive courses for young teachers during their interim period in activeteaching/learning methods, democratic classroom management, development of student-oriented programmes and qualitative assessment, in co-operation with local grass rootsorganisations;

- enlarge the list of grass roots organisations recognised by the Ministry of Education andSport for their expertise in teacher training and education;

- give more prominence to professional associations in policy and curriculum design ("Recentinitiative of the Open Society Institute - Croatia to assist professional organisations inproposing the curricula changes through round tables and discussions among professionalsin secondary education should be supported also by the Ministry.") .

- encourage schools participating in international projects and exchange programmes (Europein School, ASP Schools Project, Globe Project, School without Racism, Healthy Towns, etc.)to share their experience with other schools;

- inform schools with access to the Internet about important governmental, intergovernmentaland non-governmental sites and provide the necessary means to enable them to contribute toon-line discussions on educational changes in the world;

- establish a special rubric in 'Skolske novine' and, if possible, in other media withinformation on good practice in human rights education, EDC and MofD, as well as with theanalysis of obstacles and solutions, practitioners' opinions, review of books, manuals andtextbooks in the field, etc.; ensure more media space for non-formal, grass roots initiativestargeting teachers, students and youth; develop training courses for young journalists in majoreducational issues ("The development of a pilot course of this kind has been announced by theOpen Society Institute - Croatia for the year 2001/2002.")

5. Conclusions

Croatia is a typical country in transition, still lacking a rational, coherent, consistent, operativeand long-term educational policy. Such a situation is partly due to a communist past when allthe policies were mere reflections of the Communist Party's "revolutionary programme"devised, controlled and assessed by the central government. On the other hand, it is also theoutcome of a decade of post-communist search for national identity when the searching washalted and handicapped by the war, insecurity of life and economic destabilisation. In such asituation, the need to join a family of highly developed European democracies with well-defined principles of, and strategies for, social development resulted in the production of aseries of ill-balanced policy papers in which social priorities were centrally defined in termsof national-state building. All other dimensions of social development were subordinated tothis, even when political rhetoric favoured the opposite. The fact that Croatia did not succeedin resolving the quest for nation-state building through democratic changes and strengthening

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of civil society was an important determinant of the January 2000 political changes. The shiftsin national priorities towards democracy, open market and European integration mark thebeginning of a new phase of political restructuring in which more pragmatic and efficientpolicies are needed as a sound basis for economic stabilisation and social development.

On a general level, the Constitution has been revised and changed, triggering furtheradaptation of Croatian legislative related, inter alia, to strengthening the promotion andprotection of human rights and freedoms, minority members’ rights, decentralisation andtransparency in decision-making, efficiency of education for social and economicdevelopment.. Consequently, the government has issued several strategic documents, such asthe Working Programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the 2000 - 2004Period; The Strategy for the Development of the Republic of Croatia in the 21st Century,including the sub-section on education (The White Paper on Education); NationalProgramme of Action for Children in the Republic of Croatia; National Policy of the Republicof Croatia for the Promotion of Equality; Programme of Co-operation of the Government ofCroatia with Non-governmental - Non-profit Sector in the Republic of Croatia and the Modelfor the Realisation of National Minority Members' Rights. The Ministry of Education andSport has independently developed The Basis for Restructuring of Educational System of theRepublic of Croatia.

Despite a considerable number of strategic documents, national policies still lack co-ordination, clear priorities and coherence, especially in education. The two policy documents,one issued by the central government (The White Paper of Education) and the other by theMinistry (The Basis for Restructuring of Educational System) offer different visions andframeworks for educational development and have different perceptions on the role of formaland non-formal education in democratic processes. Both stress the need for integratingdifferent levels and forms of education in the context of lifelong education and for mergingpublic and private sectors in promoting social and economic goals through education. In thesame time, both fail to recognise the triangular nature of educational changes and, thus,mention the third determinant, i.e. civil society, only occasionally. In addition, the issues ofhuman rights protection, empowerment of citizens, equality and non-discrimination,pluralism, inclusiveness, and social cohesion, i.e. the key EDC and MofD dimensions areloosely integrated into the overall structure of both documents.

The weakest point in promoting educational changes, in general, and EDC and MofD, inparticular, is the lack of implementation policies and strategies encompassing clearprocedures, measures and mechanisms. Ad hoc solutions prevail in the implementation ofpolicy provisions. There is also the lack of quality assessment and evaluation strategies aswell as of national standards of educational achievement in both general education andspecific learning fields, including human rights education, education for democraticcitizenship, intercultural education and the like. Control of the quality of input should bereplaced by the control of the output on the basis of sound national criteria. Themodernisation (democratisation) of the overall educational system depends largely on clearunderstanding of what knowledge and skills student at a certain level of education shouldacquire in order to participate efficiently and responsibly in economic and democraticchanges. To this end, the curriculum, school/educational institution climate and the role ofdifferent social actors in education should be reviewed and reformed. Educational institutionsshould be more student-oriented and society-oriented, i.e. more responsive to the needs ofindividual students and the community as a whole.

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To achieve these changes, Croatia must review its legislation and policy documents ineducation once again in order to make a giant step from a 'patchwork' framework to anintegrated system of ideas, organisation and actions. Many prerequisites for EDC and MofDare already there at the legislative level as well as at the policy and, especially, at the practicelevel but need to be more balanced and integrated through participation, co-operation andpartnership of public, private and civil sectors. Grass roots initiatives in EDC and MofD havealready been well placed in some schools. It is now time that the bottom-up strategy finds itsproper place in national EDC and MofD policy documents and implementation schemes.

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